I spent yesterday paying attention to everything that was said by the Gators in Hoover. And in doing so, I neglected to mention the few bits of news that did get revealed.
Mea culpa. Here are those revelations, and their impact.
Nolan Kelleher to redshirt thanks to back injury
Kelleher was the one of Florida's two early enrollee offensive linemen — 11th-hour Louisville decommit Kavaris Harkless was the other — who could have theoretically contributed in 2014. Now, even the hope of that is gone: Will Muschamp announced Monday that Kelleher will redshirt as a result of a back injury.
I don't know when he'll be cleared for contact. It was a preexisting injury from high school that we discovered in his physical when he came to Florida midyear. I can update you further in the fall there.
It's a blow to Florida's thin line, but Kelleher was likely to be a reserve in 2014. If he can recover from this injury — and that's an if, given how difficult back injuries can be to recover from, especially for offensive linemen — he'll have a future as a contributor when he does get healthy.
J.C. Jackson has shoulder injury, timetable uncertain
Here's what Muschamp said about the freshman defensive back that Florida held off Florida State and Miami for down the stretch of the recruiting cycle:
Then J.C. Jackson had a shoulder injury this past spring back (at) Immokalee, had surgery in April. Usually a four- to six-month deal until you find out exactly how quickly a guy can heal.
I was at the 6 a.m. run this morning. He looked pretty good to me. He'll be cleared for non‑contact in August and should be cleared for contact shortly thereafter, I don't know when.
Four months from April gets us to August, obviously, while six gets us to October. If Jackson's cleared for contact in August, and especially before the end of fall practice, I think he could compete for a role in Florida's secondary, or be a dynamic player on special teams in the same way Loucheiz Purifoy was in 2011. But a longer recovery will make it easier to redshirt Jackson, especially if mid-year enrollees Jalen Tabor and Duke Dawson sew up spots in the secondary that they were competing for this spring.
D.J. Humphries is up to 295 pounds
I mentioned this in the "Does it matter?" piece:
Humphries has needed to add bulk to compete with SEC defensive linemen for two years. At 295 pounds, he is basically where he needs to be.
Matt Jones is up to 230 pounds
This went virtually unnoticed when Muschamp said it.
He's up over 230 pounds now, carried it extremely well watching him this morning.
By that account, Jones may be rounding into the form that had Florida coaches privately excited about what he could do for the Gators in 2013 before the viral infection that erased much of his offseason progress and the torn meniscus that prematurely ended his season. Jones could also be a contributor at both running back and the B-back position that Kurt Roper's brought to Gainesville, so there's a good shot that he'll be extensively involved in the offense — and it's good news, then, for him to be hale.
Andre Debose is cleared for contact
Touched on this yesterday, too:
Does it matter? A little. Why? Debose was always going to either return to Florida and be cleared for contact by fall practice — a year after initially tearing his ACL — or not try for a sixth year of eligibility. He decided on and got that sixth year long ago, did non-contact drills throughout spring practice, and was never really off track to be cleared to return. This is just confirmation.
Debose is useful, as a returner at least, if healthy, and could be more than useful if he takes to Roper's offense. It's nice to hear he's on track to be healthy, though not something we didn't anticipate.