For the second consecutive offseason, Florida made use of the winter transfer portal to strengthen its roster. Twelve college football veterans were acquired to help the Gators go into the 2024 offseason.
Roles are being projected by all Gators for every transfer acquisition. Next up is edge rusher Brien Taylor Jr., who spent two seasons at Blinn before making the move this offseason to join the Southeastern Conference from junior college.
Before joining Blinn as a defensive end before the 2022 season, Taylor, a 2020 graduate of Houston (Texas) Cypress Falls, was an unranked prospect with experience on the offensive and defensive lines in high school, according to his MaxPreps profile.
Throughout the course of two seasons, he played a diverse role on the edge and along the inside line for the Buccaneers defence, making 13 appearances—seven in 2022 and six in 2023. Taylor finished with 39 tackles, 9.5 for loss, two sacks, and one forced fumble.
Based on the 247Sports composite rankings, Taylor left Blinn as the No. 4 defensive lineman and No. 10 overall prospect in the class of 2024 from the JUCO level. Power 5 schools including Georgia, Auburn, Tennessee, Oklahoma State, and Florida, where he ultimately signed, were among those that wanted him.
Taylor will probably stick to his edge alignment at Florida, but he will have the positional versatility to rush from the three-technique place and slip inside. Taylor is most likely best suited for “F,” the hand-in-the-dirt, strong-side end position in coordinator Austin Armstrong’s Gators defensive system. He is 6-foot-4.5 and 281 pounds, according to UF.
Mike Peterson, an edge rushers coach and former Gators linebacker, will instruct him there.
“In December 2023, Taylor told All Gators that [Peterson] is a real good dude.” “I made sure I was aware that I could come work here. Build incrementally.”
But in 2024, Taylor will have a lot of competition on Florida’s edge.
Tyreak Sapp, a rising redshirt junior, started 11 games at “F” for Florida in 2023, taking Justus Boone’s place. Boone was expected to be a first-team player going into his redshirt sophomore season in 2023, but he suffered an ACL tear during fall training
In 2024, both players rejoin the Gators, with Sapp having just finished a season in which he recorded career highs of 24 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, and two forced fumbles.
Thus did rising sophomore and 2023 Freshman All-SEC selection Kelby Collins, who according to Pro Football Focus recorded an amazing debut season of 23 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and 20 quarterback pressures. After playing in 12 games as a freshman defence, although in a supporting capacity, and recording four tackles, fellow rising sophomore Kamran James also looks to move up into the edge rush rotation at ‘F’.
A unanimous five-star talent in the class of 2024, incoming freshman LJ McCray, projects to play the position similarly and has the versatility needed to get snaps inside in some personnel groupings.
It is unclear how each player will precisely fit into Florida’s defensive line rotation. With their explosive skill set, some of these guys can also play at the weak-side edge rushing position (JACK), which is in need of reinforcements with the transfer of multi-season starter Princely Umanmielen to Ole Miss this offseason.
However, there’s no denying that the Gators’ coaching staff has strengthened the “F” position’s depth, with a number of potentially important players hoping to contribute this season and beyond.
Taylor is one of them, I think.
The prior transfer role projections for all Gators, including wide receiver Chimere Dike, defensive safety Trikweze Bridges, defensive lineman Joey Slackman, and offensive lineman Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson, are available here.
