Projecting the Florida Gators 2020 Fall Camp DL Depth Chart

What does the Florida Gators defensive line depth chart look like entering 2020 fall camp?

The Florida Gators enter the 2020 season with loads of talent on their defensive line. The issue is, a good amount of that talent rides on potential, as there is not much experience behind the starters for Florida to hang its hat on.

With the way the roster currently shakes out, the Gators' defensive line depth chart would look something like this on paper - slashes indicating two or more players sharing a spot on the chart.

BUCK rush end: Brenton Cox Jr., Mohamoud Diabate/Jeremiah Moon/Khris Bogle, David Reese/Andrew Chatfield Jr./Lloyd Summerall III/Antwaun Powell

Three-technique: T.J. Slaton, Marlon Dunlap Jr., Gervon Dexter

Nose tackle: Kyree Campbell, Jaelin Humphries, Jalen Lee/Lamar Goods

Stong-side end: Zachary Carter, Princely Umanmielen

As the BUCK position is so heavily weighted, some of those players will surely play the opposite end spot, along the interior, and perhaps off-ball linebacker as well. Similar versatility can be seen from the likes of Carter, Umanmielen, and Dexter, but those three are easier to peg into one spot for now while the remainder of the unit is sorted out.

In order to get a better picture, we've broken the defensive line down by the starters, key members of the rotation, and the freshmen - all of which have a case to play early.

Starters

BUCK: Brenton Cox Jr., r-So., 6-4, 247 lbs.

He'll don Florida's No. 1 jersey as a redshirt sophomore, and for good reason. Cox was a consensus five-star prospect coming out of high school and saw the field on 277 defensive snaps for Georgia as a freshman, before transferring to UF.

Cox is an ideal fit at BUCK rush end, providing all of the physical and athletic traits you want to see in an edge rusher, the flexibility to play both spots, and he's able to drop into coverage. He resembles former Kentucky and current Jacksonville Jaguars edge rusher Josh Allen, physically and athletically, utilizing explosion, length, lower-body strength to turn corners while remaining balanced and upper-body strength to defeat blocks and create disruption.

Cox's frame suggests that he can also play the strong-side, and perhaps even along the interior in a pinch. The Gators look to use Cox in various ways across the defensive front and the expectations will be sky-high.

Three-technique: T.J. Slaton, Sr., 6-5, 358 lbs.

A rising senior, Slaton finally gets his shot as a starter for Florida after being knocked down the depth chart in 2018. While he has shed weight from the size listed on the roster, claiming he was down to 335 lbs. before last season and looking the part, Slaton is a mammoth-sized defensive tackle and moves well enough for his size to play three-technique.

Slaton came on late in the year last season tallying 19 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss, and eight quarterback pressures in the final five games, averaging just under 24 snaps per game. Slaton has little issue overpowering offensive linemen and has improved his closing speed to create pressure and wrap up ball-carriers near or behind the line of scrimmage.

Nose tackle: Kyree Campbell, Sr., 6-3, 304 lbs.

Campbell is Florida's most experienced defensive lineman, having started 24 games and playing in a total of 33. Campbell isn't known to blow up the box score, posting just 3.5 sacks and nine tackles for loss in his three-year career, but he has accumulated 88 total tackles and makes his presence known beyond stats.

A sound run defender, Campbell can handle double-teams and processes what's in front of him quickly to engage the ball-carrier on rushes into the interior. Campbell's work against guards can free up space for edge rushers to battle offensive tackles one-on-one, a huge benefit for Florida's defense which leads to an uptick in quarterback pressures.

Strong-side end: Zachary Carter, r-Jr., 6-4, 263 lbs.

Carter finished the 2019 season ranking second on the team in sacks (4.5) and third in quarterback pressures (20) despite playing less than half of the team's defensive snaps (403/833), according to Pro Football Focus. Playing in a rotation and filling in for the injured Jabari Zuniga, Carter made his presence known when he took the field and has earned his shot to start full-time on the strong-side.

He certainly looks the part of a strong-side end as well, as Carter claims he is now up to 287 lbs., having cut his body fat nearly 12% since Dan Mullen and Florida's current coaching staff took over in 2018.

Came a long way, anything can be done with God, consistency, self perseverance, and discipline. Down to 16%. We aint done yet🤫 pic.twitter.com/tddFapoBCJ

— Zachary L Carter (@_Zachattacks__) March 6, 2020

Key members of the rotation

Mohamoud Diabate, Jeremiah Moon, and Khris Bogle immediately follow Cox on the BUCK depth chart. The Gators can seriously consider themselves four-deep at the BUCK position with experienced talent, and considering how often Florida rotates players in different packages, all four will earn at least solid playing time there. 

However, Florida has nearly as many BUCKs on the roster (8) as the rest of the defensive line combined (9), meaning each of these players will spend time elsewhere as well as their talent will demand snaps. 

In 2019, Diabate successfully moved around the levels of the defense, earning snaps at BUCK, outside linebacker, and even STAR nickel cornerback. Moon held the same role, seeing time at all three of those positions before his season was shut down due to injury after the Georgia game. 

Bogle, on the other hand, is more of a hand-in-the-dirt type that can play either end spot and should continue to progress on the strong-side as he gets bigger. His length is a great tool for shedding blocks and attacking ball-carriers on the edge, which could lead to some early-down usage on either side.

Marlon Dunlap Jr. doesn't carry loads of experience for a redshirt senior, but enough to take on the No. 2 spot at three-technique at least to start the year. He could also slide to nose tackle in a pinch unless the Gators are comfortable with younger prospects backing up Campbell, that being redshirt freshman Jaelin Humphries and two true freshmen.

Freshmen

All eyes will be on consensus five-star 2020 defensive lineman Gervon Dexter as the Gators' put the unit together. While he's only played football for two years, Dexter, 6-6, 294 lbs., is a freak athlete for his size and should find the field early at three-technique. He can and probably will play on the edge as well, but his size, athleticism, explosion, and raw power should translate easily to 3T whereas taking on an edge position requires a lot more mental processing development.

Princely Umanmielen, a last-second addition to Florida's 2020 haul, played strong-side end in high school and has the frame to continue doing so at Florida, standing at 6-4, 282 lbs. On the traditional depth chart, Umanmielen is Carter's primary backup, but expect Bogle and Cox to also take snaps here, taking some stress off of Umanmielen's shoulders.

Jalen Lee and Lamar Goods both profile as nose tackles, however, Lee possesses the get-off and pad level to play three-technique in pass-rushing sub-packages as well.