This story first appeared in Chomp, our Gators football newsletter. Subscribe here.
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Hi, Gators fans!
First off, it’s a huge week for Gators Breakdown and host David Waters as the podcast celebrates its fifth anniversary! Congratulations!
On a less upbeat note, Tim Tebow was released from the Jaguars, ending the hopes of Gators fans like me who wanted to see him play on Sundays again.
But let’s look toward what we can expect from the Gators on Saturdays as fall football camp continues. We are now only 16 days away from the first Florida game of the season!
🏈 Fall camp continues for Florida
Sunday was the Gators’ first fall scrimmage of the 2021 season. The trend from spring football continued, with the defense showing up and showing out in the scrimmage.
David details the notes coming out of the scrimmage in this episode of Gators Breakdown.
And while it’s Jones’ job, coach Dan Mullen didn’t shy away from saying he has two capable quarterbacks to lead the offense. Mullen praised Anthony Richardson and his performance in the scrimmage.
In another episode of Gators Breakdown, David and Will Miles react to Mullen’s comments on his top two signal-callers.
Staying on the offensive side of the ball, there is certainly no shortage of running backs. But in order to get on the field, the coaches are looking for more than just running the ball.
In the latest Gators Breakdown episode, David breaks down what running backs coach Greg Knox expressed to his ball carriers about all aspects of playing the position. Also, Malik Davis shares his thoughts on the running back room, and Tre’Vez Johnson out of Bartram Trail High School dives into playing the STAR position on defense.
You can read more here about which players are expected to play key roles this season after Florida lost tight end Kyle Pitts, wide receiver Kadarius Toney, quarterback Kyle Trask -- drafted fourth, 20th and 64th by NFL teams, respectively -- and three more starters.
🐊 Gators get 2 commitments in 1 week
Linebacker EJ Lightsey on Monday committed to Florida.
247Sports has Lightsey -- from Fitzgerald, Georgia -- as a three-star player.
The Gators then picked up their second commitment in the week when offensive tackle David Conner committed to Florida the next day.
247Sports also has Conner -- from Deerfield Beach, Florida -- as a three-star player.
The Gators 2022 recruiting class now includes 13 players.
Gators land at No. 13 in preseason AP Top 25
Like the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll, the Gators landed outside the top 10 in The Associated Press Top 25 preseason poll released Monday.
But in this poll, the Gators came in lower at No. 13. Florida was ranked 11th in the Coaches Poll.
Here’s the full AP Poll:
- Alabama
- Oklahoma
- Clemson
- Ohio State
- Georgia
- Texas A&M
- Iowa State
- Cincinnati
- Notre Dame
- North Carolina
- Oregon
- Wisconsin
- Florida
- Miami
- USC
- LSU
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Penn State
- Washington
- Texas
- Coastal Carolina
- Louisiana
- Utah
- Arizona State
🐆 Tebow’s time with Jaguars ends
He gave it a shot, but Tim Tebow was waived by the Jaguars as the team made its first cuts of the season on Tuesday.
Tebow, now 34, was trying to switch from quarterback to tight end after never playing the position before. The former Gators star tried out for the Jaguars not long after the team hired his college coach, Urban Meyer, to lead Jacksonville. Tebow looked the part, physically, during training camp, but his inexperience at the position showed. In the preseason opener Saturday against the Browns, he was targeted once but had no catches. Tebow’s blocking struggles likely made it an easier choice for the team to move on.
Here’s the message Tebow sent on Twitter.
It was still exciting having hope that Tebow could make his NFL comeback in the city where he grew up. Even at Saturday’s preseason game at TIAA Bank Field, there were fans cheering Tebow’s name when he would get on the field.
News4Jax sports editor Justin Barney writes that it just wasn’t meant to be. You can read his entire commentary here. Justin also looks at what’s next for Tebow here.
✉️ Send us your Gators thoughts, questions
David and I want to hear from you. Do you have any thoughts or questions about the Gators football program? Agree or disagree with something we’ve said? Let us know here and we’ll share our responses to your questions.
🎙️ Listen to more Gators Breakdown
You can catch up on previous episodes of Gators Breakdown at news4jax.com/gatorsbreakdown. Or click one of the following to tune in: Megaphone | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Google Podcasts | Stitcher