GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Coming off back-to-back SEC East championships, Florida coach Jim McElwain must find a new quarterback and replace eight starters on defense. The injury bug took care of most of the defensive starting spots already, as many of the eight starters’ backups saw significant action last season. The secondary had the biggest question marks, especially after an injury to an expected starter.

And what’s a Gators offseason without a quarterback competition. This year, however, there also are some questions to answer regarding the offense’s supporting cast. Here’s a look at what’s been solved and what needs to be fixed.

What’s been solved

1. We have a good idea of who will play in the secondary: Florida entered camp with a big question mark in the secondary after S Marcell Harris tore his Achilles’ tendon in a pre-camp workout. With only Duke Dawson, Nick Washington and Chauncey Gardner returning, that meant potentially having to rely on true freshmen.

A surprise out of camp has been the emergence of CB Joseph Putu. A junior college transfer, Putu saw limited action last season. It was perhaps most telling that against FSU, when the secondary was depleted due to injuries, the coaches played Daniel McMillian, a linebacker, at nickel instead of Putu, a cornerback. Many predicted one of Florida’s 4-star freshman cornerback signees would grab a starting spot, but Putu is in the lead to line up opposite of Dawson in Week 1.

Two freshmen who have emerged as potential starters in the secondary are Marco Wilson at nickel and Shawn Davis at safety. With Gardner’s ability to play safety and cornerback, the final starting spot is likely down to Putu and Davis. The coaches are committed to playing the five best defensive backs and making it work.

2. The offensive line has found its fifth starter: The Gators had one spot to fill on the line this offseason, with Martez Ivey sliding over from left guard to left tackle to replace David Sharpe. Redshirt freshman Brett Heggie has stepped up to take the left guard spotting spot, with junior OL Tyler Jordan become the line’s sixth man, a utility lineman who’s next in line in the case of any injuries. If Ivey were to go down, RT Jawaan Taylor would slide to left tackle and Jordan would fill in at right tackle. At center or either of the guard spots, Jordan is sure to step in.

“Brett’s gotten a lot better as a player,” Taylor said. “He’s doing a lot better on the offensive line. He’s been more vocal. He’s actually starting to step up and lead now, lead the other guys and tell them what to do. He’s having a great time over there. Him and Martez together are going a great job on the left side.”

3. The coaches have found a position for Kadarius Toney: With a drastically different quarterback depth chart in fall camp than there was in spring practice, it wasn’t clear what Kadarius Toney’s role would be in the offense. At the start of camp, Toney was working with the wide receivers, and not surprisingly, had a few drops. Toney seems to be a quick learner, however, as McElwain has regularly praised the 3-star athlete. With his speed and ability to make people miss, the Gators needed to find a way to get the Toney ball, and it appears slot wide receiver will be that position.

What’s left to fix

1. The starting QB: New year, same issue. In what feels like an annual tradition of the post-Tim Tebow era, there’s still a starting quarterback competition in Gainesville. Redshirt freshman Feleipe Franks, who led at the end of spring practice, continues to battle Notre Dame graduate transfer Malik Zaire and incumbent starter Luke Del Rio for the job. Around this time last year, McElwain named Del Rio the starter over Austin Appleby. He appears more willing to let the three-man race play itself out this time. With a Week 1 opponent like Michigan, there’s a chance McElwain doesn’t reveal the starter (publicly at least) until the last minute, though one would expect for someone to begin to get more first-team reps than the others.

2. Starting wide receivers: With the suspension of Antonio Callaway, there’s now a question of who will start at wide receiver. Brandon Powell will likely start in the slot, but the exterior spots aren’t quite locked up. Josh Hammond, Freddie Swain and Tyrie Cleveland have all been working with the first-team at times in recent practices. Since the wideouts cross-train, it’s easy for the coaches to try different combinations to find the best one. Cleveland has the look of a go-to wideout, but Hammond is a consistent pass-catcher and Swain has been frequently praised by McElwain in camp.

3. Running back rotation: The Gators return their top three ball-carriers from last season (Jordan Scarlett, Lamical Perine, Mark Thompson) and add two freshmen (Malik Davis, Adarius Lemons). Last season, Florida tried a committee approach, rotating carries among four running backs for the first three quarters. As Scarlett recently pointed out, it led to Florida coming in last in the SEC in rushing yards. This year, there’s little talk of a rotation with Scarlett having emerged as a feature back. Perine will still get his share of touches, too. Beyond that, it’s less clear.

All signs point to Davis, a 3-star freshman out of Tampa Jesuit, being next in line for carries. With Scarlett, already a power runner, improving his strength and pass-catching this offseason, the 6-2, 239-pound Thompson might find himself the odd man out. Davis has impressive speed and make-you-miss ability, something that could cause problems against tired defenses. With so much depth at the position, fellow freshman Lemons could be in line for a redshirt.