The Gators’ defense might be losing a lot of pieces next year, but they’ll get two key ones back.
Linebacker Jarrad Davis and safety Marcus Maye have each declared that they will return to Gainesville for their senior seasons. Neither comes as a huge surprise, but both have to elicit feelings of relief anyway.
At first, Davis said that he would come back to school for one more year, but then it came out that he was “exploring his options” about his future. So while this is nothing more than him reaffirming his original decision, it’s great news nonetheless, as his departure would have left Florida frighteningly thin at the middle level of the defense. As for Maye? Somewhat of a different story. He kept mum about the subject for the most part, although some more recent indications implied that he might leave early for the NFL. But his return isn’t a complete shock either, as declaring for the draft this year would mean going in a safety-heavy class.
With these two back, the Gators appear to have a sturdy foundation in place on defense even with the heavy personnel losses. Caleb Brantley is back to anchor the defensive line, and Jalen Tabor will step up and carry the DBU torch, but there were major question marks pretty much everywhere else you looked on this defense, and now they can be answered with confidence.
