A possible cornerback combination of Janoris Jenkins plus whoever emerged as the next best player would have been a strength for Florida. Instead, Jenkins is gone and that position is one of the biggest question marks on the team.
It’s probably the single biggest question mark on the defense.
Gators coach Will Muschamp said Wednesday he has not finalized his depth chart at that position. At this point, it appears five players are in contention for two jobs.
Jeremy Brown, a junior, seemed like an obvious leader to start, but has been out at least a week with a sprained knee. Senior Moses Jenkins, sophomore Cody Riggs and true freshman Marcus Roberson have all been getting first-team reps, per Muschamp. Jaylen Watkins has, too, but he also is working at safety.
“We haven’t declared anybody a starter yet,” Muschamp said. “Moses Jenkins, Jaylen Watkins, Cody Riggs and Marcus Roberson have all repped through there. Loucheiz Purifoy’s done a nice job at times. You look at any combination of those five and the guys that play the best throughout the week and perform the best for the Gators will start on game day. That’ll be true through the whole season.”
Florida fans seem to be excited about Roberson. If it was my team, the idea of a true freshman starting cornerback sounds more scary than exciting.
No matter what starting duo Muschamp settles on, it will probably be an inexperienced one. Here are his choices:
Cody Riggs (5-9, 179), So.
Experience: 13 games, 3 starts
Brian Biada (5-10, 179), Sr.
Experience: None (walk-on)
Loucheiz Purifoy (6-1, 183), Fr.
Experience: None
Jeremy Brown (5-10, 187), R-Jr.
Experience: 11 games, 10 starts
Marcus Roberson (6-0, 184), Fr.
Experience: None
Moses Jenkins (6-3, 186), R-Sr.
Experience: 29 games, 3 starts
De’Ante Saunders* (5-8, 192), Fr.
Experience: None
Jaylen Watkins* (5-11, 195), So.
Experience: 10 games, no starts
