2022 Season Preview: Florida Gators

Stoney Keeley takes a look at the state of the Gators in his 2022 Florida preview.

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Over the course of the next several weeks, the SoBros Network crew will be going around the landscape of the SEC, team by team, previewing the upcoming American tackle football season. Up next, our 2022 Florida preview!

2022 Florida Preview

It’s the dawn of a new era in Gainesville. After four years of Dan Mullen, the Florida Gators have elected to move on to new head coach Billy Napier. Napier comes to Florida after four years of serving as the head man down at Louisiana, where he built the Ragin’ Cajuns into a perennial Top 25 caliber team. That’s his strong suit – Napier is ever the program-builder, and that’s exactly what he’ll be tasked to do with Florida, a program that is in need of a bit of a shake-up.

Oddly enough, my biggest concern for the Gators this season is the offense. They need bodies…no, they need some thoroughbreds. The question of who is going to make the plays for this unit is a fair one in my eyes. That starts with quarterback Anthony Richardson. Richardson has shown flashes of electric potential in game action for the Gators. But, can he stay healthy and prove to be a more reliable decision-maker? That’s the question. I’ve seen Richardson get some Heisman love, and some love as a potential NFL first round draft choice. If he lives up to that hype, the Gators could arrive sooner than expected after what’s been a total rebuild under Napier. He may end up being the guy who makes all the plays for this unit. There’s no more Dameon Pierce on this offense, but I expect Napier to lean into his experienced offensive line and plethora of talented running backs to get back to basics, so to speak. I don’t know what to make of this receiving corps, but if the Gators can run the ball effectively, it’ll help loosen things up while the Gators figure things out there.

Given how bad the Gators have been on defense these last two seasons, this feels like a bit of a hot take, but I’m actually more hopeful on this side of the ball than I am on the offense. The return of Ventrell Miller for a sixth season helps bring some credibility and a little more fight back to that side of the ball, assuming he can shake off the rust left from missing nearly all of 2021 due to injury. But, the biggest move may have been addition by subtraction in bouncing Todd Grantham for a more modern defensive scheme coached by new DCs Patrick Toney and Sean Spencer. A scheme that is fundamentally hard for quarterbacks to decipher gives the Gators an advantage that will mask some of the questions at certain positions while this staff figures it out.

It’s easy to look at how aimless Florida has been these last two seasons and dismiss 2022 as a total rebuild season, but I wouldn’t sleep on this program either. With a sort of “back to basics” mantra, a new defensive scheme, experienced offensive line, dynamic quarterback, and returning stalwart as your mike linebacker, the foundational pieces are in place for Napier and company to build upon. If they can get to building quickly, it might not be a throwaway season in Gainesville after all.

2022 Gators Schedule

Saturday, 9/3: vs. Utah – If any team in the Pac-12 is built for a slugfest with the SEC, it’s the Utes (sorry, Oregon fans…no offense). This one could be quite interesting as the first game in the Napier era. I imagine it’ll be low scoring, and could come down to one big play or two on offense. Your guess is as good as mine as we sit here in July.

Saturday, 9/10: vs. Kentucky – This is a HUGE game early in the SEC East race. If the Gators can start the season 2-0 and beat an experienced Wildcats team that has SEC East title aspirations, it could drastically alter the trajectory of how quickly Napier can get Florida back in the fold.

Saturday, 9/17: vs. South Florida – Sorry Bulls fans…but Quinton Flowers ain’t walkin’ through that door.

Saturday, 9/24: @ Tennessee – I do think we need to tamper expectations a bit for the Vols. Some of it is getting a little out of hand. But still, this game going down in Knoxville, and given what the Gators look like on offense right now….I’d say they’re going to have trouble putting points on the board and keeping up with UT.

Saturday, 10/1: vs. Eastern Washington – Interesting move by Florida to not get their FCS tune-up game in until October.

Saturday, 10/8: vs. Missouri – The Tigers have surprised the Gators in recent years, so this one feels like a bit of a toss-up for me. For different reasons, and in different ways, these two programs will be trying to find their footing in 2022. This game could come down to who has found it first.

Saturday, 10/15: vs. LSU – There’s just so much talent down in Baton Rouge. If Brian Kelly can get it together, the Tigers could be a real factor in the SEC in 2022. I just don’t know that Florida is quite going to be there yet.

Saturday, 10/22: BYE

Saturday, 10/29: vs. Georgia (in Jacksonville) – While I do think the Bulldogs will come back down to Earth a little bit, I still don’t see them coming down far enough to lose to this Gators squad.

Saturday, 11/5: @ Texas A&M – A road trip to Texas A&M sounds daunting given what it looks like this Aggies team is going to be. But, let’s be honest, Texas A&M has found ways to squander early season success before, so who knows?

Saturday, 11/12: vs. South Carolina – How much magic is hot shot Shane Beamer going to be able to cook up with Spencer Rattler? I’m not sure, but this contest this late in the season could play a huge role in how many SEC teams end up as bowl eligible.

Saturday, 11/19: @ Vanderbilt – The Commodores are so far behind every other SEC team right now that it’s not even funny.

Friday, 11/25: @ Florida State – It feels like the Gators should win this game, but you never know in these rivalry games. This is the last of seven games on this schedule that I could see going either way.

Crystal Ball

I don’t know if there is as broad a spectrum between what a team could be this season in the SEC as Florida’s. It’s fascinating to me – this team could be spectacularly bad because of its schedule, but it also has the talent that if Napier can instill a quick culture change and if Richardson can reach his potential, it could surprise some people as well. All things considered, I think this is a program that might take some lumps in 2022, but find itself back in the fold in 2023. My official gun-to-my-head meaningless July record prediction is 6-6.

MORE 2022 SEC SEASON PREVIEWS

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Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley

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