Todd Grantham heaps praise on Florida’s front 7, young DL: ‘They’ve all shown up at times’
By Keith Farner
Published:
With so much to replace on the Florida front seven, defensive coordinator Todd Grantham is trying to find the right mix of veteran leadership with young talent emerging to contribute. So far, the defensive line and linebackers are coming together pretty well.
In a Zoom meeting with reporters, Grantham shared that he’s really pleased with Ventrell Miller’s leadership.
“Anytime you lose a guy like David (Reese), he’s a quarterback (of the defense)… I’ve been very impressed with Ventrell Miller,” Grantham said. “He’s lost a bit of weight and you can see it in the way he’s playing.”
As for the pass rush, there’s plenty to like there, too. Grantham mentioned Mohamoud Diabate, Brenton Cox and Jeremiah Moon among others, added that he’s been pleased with their work ethic.
“Hopefully one of them can flourish and help the Gators do well in pass rush,” Grantham said.
That defensive line needs to replace the production from departed stars Jon Greenard, Jabari Zuniga and Adam Shuler. There is plenty of talent with the young newcomers, but Grantham said it’s all about consistency. You players often flash, but aren’t always consistent.
“They’ve all shown up at times,” he said, and singled out Gervon Dexter. “He has a lot of talent and we’re trying to develop him.”
H/T Nick de la Torre and Graham Hall.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
