Florida Gators

Editor’s note: Each day between now and Florida’s Allstate Sugar Bowl date with Louisville, GatorNation will review the season for a key Gators player and attempt to project what’s next. Today we’ll look at S Josh Evans.

S Josh Evans
Senior
79 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 2 INTs, 3 pass breakups

Role in 2012: Evans started every game in 2012 alongside Matt Elam and ended up leading the team in tackles. He was solid in run support and was better in coverage than he was last season.

The good: Evans was one of the Gators’ most improved players this season. He really blossomed in the second year of coordinator Dan Quinn’s defensive system, especially in terms of communication and understanding coverage responsibilities. Evans’ solid play allowed the Gators to move Elam around and take advantage of his play-making abilities. Had Evans not improved as much as he did, thanks partly to Will Muschamp working with the safeties, the Gators would have had to have been more conservative with Elam.

The bad: Evans’ tackling fundamentals need work. He’s one of those guys who ducks his head and goes low instead of keeping his head up and wrapping up. As a result, he sometimes misses tackles he should make. The best example is getting plowed over by Texas A&M RB Ben Malena. Evans also sometimes takes bad angles to the ball carrier and he doesn’t have the blazing speed needed to make up for that.

Crystal ball: Evans’ final game will come against a Louisville team that likes to throw the ball down the field with QB Teddy Bridgewater. The Cardinals average 298.6 yards per game passing so the UF secondary will be pretty busy. After the Allstate Sugar Bowl, however, is where Evans’ future gets murky. He isn’t going to be a high draft pick, but there is a good chance he will get drafted. That wasn’t something anyone would write after the 2011 season. But can he stick with an NFL team?

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The Florida Gators are a wounded bunch heading into the Tennessee game -- but things aren’t as bad as they appeared Saturday night.

UF won’t have linebacker Jelani Jenkins (thumb) or cornerback/safety Cody Riggs (foot) for four weeks, and coach Will Muschamp said end/linebacker Ronald Powell suffered a setback during his rehab from a torn ACL and likely will miss the rest of the season.

But, good news for the No. 18-ranked Gators: Muschamp said running back Mike Gillislee (groin) and safety Josh Evans (shoulder) will practice on Monday and will be able to play against the No. 23 Volunteers. Plus, UF is getting safety De’Ante Saunders (hamstring) back after he missed the first two games.

And even better news: UF has more depth this season than in 2011 and is much better equipped to handle a rash of injuries like this.

“Our depth is still not where it needs to be, but certainly much better than it was a year ago,” Muschamp said. “We’re not having to switch guys from position to position in order to finish a game or prepare guys for a game.”

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