Florida Gators 2021 Positional Review: Offensive Line

How did the Florida Gators' offensive line perform last season?

The backbone of a good offense at any level of football is often tied to the team's offensive line. That remained the case for the Florida Gators last year as it saw plenty of issues in protection during 2021, but how did the OL perform as a whole?

Entering the year, Florida had plenty of questions in its starting five. Both left tackle Stone Forsythe and center Brett Heggie move on to the NFL Draft, while the team was able to retain a couple of their previous year starters in right tackle Jean Delance and right guard Stewart Reese, while left guard Richard Gouraige moved to left tackle. 

With a re-shuffle this year, along with some injuries the team dealt with, there was a bit of inconsistency, but an overall improved offensive line from 2020 is something to be encouraged by, especially entering 2022 with yet another upgrade acquired in guard O'Cyrus Torrence.

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With a switch to more of a run-heavy offense in 2021, Florida's season was off to a hot start, boasting the nation's top rushing attack behind the bevy of running backs and dual-threat quarterbacks in Emory Jones and Anthony Richardson.

Though there ultimately were seven starting offensive linemen throughout the year for Florida, the most common configuration from left to right consisted of Gouraige, Ethan White/Joshua Braun, Kingsley Eguakun, Reese and Delance.

Braun and White effectively split last year's reps at left guard in half due to White's injuries. Braun was also played a prominent role at right guard in relief of Reese, though there wasn't much of a drop-off in talent there.

Effectively, Eguakun was the most consistent player on the team's OL, playing all 870 offensive snaps. He allowed just 13 total pressures and allowed zero sacks, according to Pro Football Focus.

The team's best pass blocker, according to PFF, Gouraige allowed just two sacks in 435 pass-blocking reps, along with nine hurries and seven quarterback hits. He will likely remain in that spot heading into 2022 with a need to improve in run blocking, perhaps playing more consistently with White next to him at LG.

For White, he was the team's best starting guard but had nagging injuries that forced him to miss half of the season. He would allow just six pressures and no sacks, while his run blocking was the best among all of Florida's starting OL during the season. While his spot on this year's team has not been clearly defined, White likely will continue in that role moving forward.

The inconsistencies would begin at right guard for Florida, whether due to injuries or ineffective play, Reese was unable to get it going and Braun switched back and forth too much to tell how effective he is in a permanent role in the offense.

Delance would give up the most pressures on the team, per PFF, with 20, while Braun would grade out as the second-worst, tied with Gouraige, giving up 18 pressures.  

Still, even with Delance as one of the team's most inconsistent offense linemen, the team was effective running on the right side. According to PFF, Florida averaged 6.3 yards per attempt running behind the right guard, tackle and end, while averaging 4.6 YPA running behind the left end, tackle and guard.

It should also be noted that Florida ran the football more (193 times) on the left side than on the right side (138).

Florida will look to upgrade that side of the offensive line this year, but it remains to be seen who will ultimately take the positions at right guard and tackle.

Ultimately, Florida's offensive line for 2021 was effective, but inconsistent, unable to protect the QB enough to be dominant. The team also handicapped the offensive due to playcalling, often getting away from the run far too early - the strength of its offensive line.

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