Looking Back On, and Forward To, Florida's Safety Room

The Gators are entering a crucial offseason, the second of head coach Billy Napier's tenure, looking to turn things around after Florida posted its second consecutive 6-7 record to conclude the 2022 campaign.

After nearly two dozen scholarship players entered the transfer portal and another ten declared for the NFL Draft, the roster will undoubtedly look a lot different in Napier's second year at the helm.

Therefore, All Gators is breaking down every position on Florida's roster as the offseason gets underway, looking back on every contributor's 2022 season and looking forward to each unit's 2023.

We've examined the past and future of the quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, offensive line, defensive line, JACK edge rusher, linebacker, cornerback and STAR with positional breakdowns. Now, we round out the Gators' defense with the last line in the secondary. Finally, it's time to look at the safety spot.

Looking back

Co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Patrick Toney inherited the second-most experienced unit on the roster a season ago when he traveled with Napier from Lousiana-Lafayette to UF.

However, despite the maturity, it continued to sputter under the third-position coach in three seasons.

Fifth-year senior Trey Dean III anchored a starting safety spot for the third season in a row. His year got off to a rough start, continuing a painstaking trend of blown coverages and missed tackles. That came to a head as Florida lost Tennessee in Knoxville, 38-33.

However, it wasn't all bad for Dean.

In the final six games of the year, he arguably produced at the highest level of his career as a safety, making a complete 180 from his early season form that presented a liability in coverage for the Gators. He turned the corner in Jacksonville against Georgia, becoming a borderline threat to opposing offenses for the year's final stretch, finding a way to be in the right spot at the right time.

That aided Florida's defense to its best product of the season, holding opponents scoreless for six straight quarters with string performances against Texas A&M in the second half and versus South Carolina.

His heightened contributions have earned him buzz for a potential early day-three selection in the upcoming NFL Draft.

His partner in crime in the backend was Rashad Torrence II, who led the Gators in tackles with 84 on the season.

Torrence contributed to the underwhelming on-field product produced by the duo on the season as a whole, despite possessing traits that suggested a year-three jump was possible. Instead, the Marietta, Ga., native remained stagnant. He showcased his power when working downhill as a tackler, the calling card of his game, but failed to present the speed and athleticism needed to maintain the deep half of the field against streaking wideouts.

Each guy had his fair share of lowlights, allowing opposing offenses to produce big plays through the air more frequently than desirable. Even then, the veteran duo occupied a voluminous role due to need, playing the most snaps of any Florida defensive players throughout the season.

Despite the perceived notion that Toney would look to revolve talent in the third level frequently, the spot didn't often feature other faces.

True freshman Kamari Wilson was the only one to break through that glass ceiling placed beneath Dean and Torrence.

Serving as a backup to Torrence, Wilson played frequently within a rotation and flashed signs of promise for his future. While his youth and inexperience were evident, the meaningful snaps prepared the former IMG Academy product to assume a significant role in 2023.

Donovan McMillon and Corey Collier Jr. made up the reserve roles at safety but appeared more on special teams than on defense. Another true freshman, Miguel Mitchell, began to see time later in the year at safety after beginning as a STAR in the heavy defensive back packages.

He was arguably the most impressive reserve, even over Wilson, of Florida's safeties.

Below All Gators have compiled the safeties' stats from 2022.

Torrence: 84 tackles, one pass breakup, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery

Dean: 81 tackles, 4.5 TFLs, four bass breakups, two fumble recoveries

Wilson: 39 tackles, 1.5 TFLs, one pass breakup, one forced fumble

McMillon: 20 tackles, one TFL

Mitchell: 15 tackles, one TFL, one forced fumble

Collier: One tackle

Looking forward

If there's one spot that embodies how Florida will lean on young talent as the Napier era finds its footing, the safety position is it.

Heading into 2023, the Gators' safety group may have undergone significant turnover from a year ago as Dean (NFL Draft), Torrence (NFL Draft), McMillon (transfer to Pitt) and Collier (transfer to Nebraska) have departed, but, it's displaying the most continuity at the top that it has over the past few seasons.

Following the 2020 season, then Florida head coach Dan Mullen moved on from safeties coach Ron English in favor of Wesley McGriff, giving the unit what was expected to be an upgrade to rekindle a run of dynamic secondary play. That wasn't the case under McGriff, as the much-maligned 2020 defensive form stuck around to contribute heavily to a 6-7 campaign and the firing of Mullen.

In 2022, Patrick Toney took over the defense and the safeties unit. It didn't see the immediate success many expected but began to show signs of improvement in the final half stretch of the season.

Now, for the first time since the 2020 offseason, the Gators are carrying over the position coach responsible for the last line of defense.

That could have a substantial impact on the safety play in 2023.

Napier's prized pull in his 2022 transition class, Wilson, will expectedly headline the unit.

In his true freshman season, Wilson saw the most rotational reps of any nonstarter on the roster. He appeared in all 13 games for the Gators, displaying his strength as a hard-hitting safety to instill fear in the opposing ball carriers and route runners across the deeper middle.

Mitchell is best slated to step in opposite Wilson, giving Florida size in the third level of the defense. The duo will provide a strong downhill presence against the run that the Gators have keyed in on this offseason with the movement they've made in the transfer portal.

However, what they bring from a physicality standpoint as run-stoppers and downhill against short-to-intermediate routes, they lack in lateral and straight-line speed to play with range in coverage.

As a result, the unit will likely endure an expanding rotation as the season rolls on to incorporate talented true freshmen who can bring the one-high and two-high looks that Toney likes to deploy in his defense when the roster allows for it.

West Orange high school product Jordan Castell has the best opportunity for early playing time at 6-foot-2, 205 pounds. Presenting the talent of a versatile ball hawk — in on or off-man coverage — with improving tackling ability in open space give the Gators the luxury to play aggressively underneath.

He's a prime example of the height, length, versatility and verified speed Florida is searching for when evaluating potential talent.

Bryce Thornton enters alongside Castell this offseason as a high-upside, uber-athletic ball hawk coming to the Florida secondary.

Thornton, however, isn't equipped with the game-ready frame and skillset needed to fill a hole in the rotation at just 5-foot-10, 193 pounds. His progression will continue into the season with the hope of enduring a heightened snap count later in the campaign.

The longest-committed Gators signee and enrollee of the 2023 class, Aaron Gates, will serve as depth while he develops into a do-it-all defensive back piece for the secondary. Dijon Johnson, another 2023 signee who will begin his collegiate career at cornerback, could also be slid to the backend, if necessary.

While the room currently seems full, it wouldn't be a surprise if Florida took to the open market to find more experience in the unit following the spring.

If they do move forward with the current standing of the safety depth chart, it will be the leading example for the youth movement sweeping the Gators football program.

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