2023 Preview Part 3: Pivotal Position Battles

When fall camp rolls around there will start to be more clarity on what the depth chart is going to look like for the 2023 season. UWF returns a bunch of talented returning players on both sides of the ball who will most likely reprise their starting roles in the fall. While no position is ever guaranteed year to year, especially with a coaching staff change, you can pretty much write Peewee Jarrett, Caden Leggett, Jacob Bruce, Will Breland, Willie Jordan, and Anthony Johnson Jr in pen. There are some other returning starters who have a significant edge on their competition. But there are some roles, both starting and depth, that will move into camp as open competitions between two or more players. I wanted to take a deeper look the major names to know and how I see the depth chart shaking out by the beginning of the season.

Second Cornerback

As I touched on in THE REPLACEMENTS, the DB room is going to be heavily reworked under the new defensive staff due to the departure of three full time starters and a key reserve. At Cornerback they are fortunate to return one of the best players in the conference, Anthony Johnson Jr., but in modern football you have to have three or four CBs ready to go to match up with all the pass heavy offenses you’re going to face. In 2022 Sharod Oliver (12 starts 30 tackles 2 INT 7 PBU) was the full time starter opposite Johnson Jr., playing in all but one game last fall. The year before Shannon Showers Jr. started every game at cornerback before moving to Safety, he is also graduated. Who do the Argos turn to now to fill their second starter role and who will be in the mix behind him?

Four guys from last year’s roster seemed to be battling it out for the second CB spot during the spring. Frontrunning the group appeared to be RS Senior Brandon Cross (8 games 13 tackles 4 PBU), a former Georgia Southern signee, along with Soph. Zach Johnson, who were seen in most of the clips with the first team defense, opposite Anthony Johnson Jr.. Additionally, RS Senior Kasimir Absolu and RS Soph. Chester Fearon ran with the twos during spring. Aside from Cross, though, none of these players have much experience with the Argonauts, Fearon appeared in 2 games last fall, Zach Johnson hasn’t seen any college action, and Absolu has experience at the JUCO level, but played in just one game for the Argonauts in ‘22.

The new coaching staff brought in a good infusion of experienced talent to the roster in Justin Mathieu, a RS Junior from University of Sioux Falls. A two year contributor at the D2 level, listed 6’2” 190, Mathieu has great size for a cover corner. He backs it up with very good athletic numbers, including a 10.92 100 M and a 22’6.75” Long Jump, which placed 2nd in the state championship as a Junior. In 17 career games (5 starts) he had 18 tackles 4.5 TFL 2 sacks 4 PBU and a forced fumble. UWF also added a couple high school DB signees, Joshua Doane and DJ Barnes, who could come in and compete. This key battle is likely to have major ramifications on the defense this fall. UWF might look to add more competition to the mix this summer, with recent offers to D2 transfer Virgil Lemons (UNCP) and JUCO Quincy Milhomme (Snow College), both originally from Florida.

Best Guess: This is a tough one, especially since there could be more additions come fall. I’m going to say Cross has the inside track of guys currently on campus, with Zach Johnson just behind him. Mathieu and Lemons and/or Milhomme in the mix this fall could change the makeup of the group significantly though.

EDGE/Weakside Defensive End

This is a big battle, maybe the most important one on the defense to settle before the season. However, it isn’t like CB or DT, where a key starter has moved on and the Argos are looking to backfill his spot. This is basically a brand new position for UWF, for the history of the program the defensive alignment has been a three down front, and the new staff brings in a four man front. With that shift is the introduction of a EDGE (or WDE), and UWF is going to be working out that spot with a group of mostly new faces during camp.

The sole member of this group wh0 is a returning player, Georell Kidd, was repping with the starting defensive unit often during the spring. A former Buffalo signee, came to UWF in 2021 after a year off during 2020. He didn’t see any time in his only season at UB, but was an ultra productive prep at powerhouse Miami Northwestern as a senior, accounting for more than 20 TFL and 17 sacks. He had at least two sacks during the spring football game. A couple transfer additions will definitely be in the competition. The first is Jake Dorn, a three year contributor at D2 Saginaw Valley State who has 89 tackles 7.5 sacks and 12.5 TFL in 33 career appearances. The second transfer in the mix will be Byron Puryear, from College of DuPage, who was a quality starter for D2 Quincy in 2021 (4.5 sacks) and a JUCO (Div. III) All-American in 2022 (8 sacks, 13.5 TFL).

Of all the c/o 2023 high school signees on the team, I think Witchiel “Hank” Filamar has one of the best shots at contributing in his first season. Filamar has the prototype size for an outside pass rusher (6’4” 225) and he runs a very-fast-for-his-size 11.76 100M, and he has the production to go with the athletic profile putting up double digit sacks as a Senior, earning 1st Team All-State in 4M, Florida’s largest and arguably most competitive division. While the Argos may not have an established EDGE going into camp, they are lucky to have a bunch of talented guys to rotate through to figure it out.

Best Guess: I think Puryear probably comes in and snags the top spot of this group. He has the physical makeup and brings a good amount of real game experience to the defense.

Wide Receivers 2 and 3

If Coach Kaleb Nobles’ offense ends up being similar to what we have seen over the last six seasons, and there is every reason to believe it will be, we will be looking at a lot of three and four WR sets and a wide open passing attack. Last year UWF broke the mold a little bit, due in large part to an elite running game powered by a four headed monster in Mason, Jarrett, Hargrove, and Wilson, and ended up being primarily a two target offense. In previous seasons the Shinnick lead Argos typically went 5 deep with productive WRs. All-American David Durden and All-Conference Caden Leggett alone accounted for 52% of the receptions, 59% of the yards, and 63% of the TDs by Argonaut pass catchers in 2022. When looking at just WRs, those numbers go up to 58%, 64%, and 65% respectively. Leggett returns for his final season, and by all accounts should slide right into that WR1 role left by the departing Durden, but who is going to step up and take control of the available touches?

There are two names that will undoubtedly factor heavily into this competition in fall camp. Jared Smith has been with the Argonauts for two seasons already, and contributed in both. The 6’2” 190 lb Enterprise, AL native broke out in 2021 as a True Fresh. catching 14 balls for 274 yards and 3 TDs in 9 games, he followed that up with 9 receptions 133 yards and 2 TDs in ‘22. The Junior has shown he can be a dangerous downfield playmaker and will get a lot more chances with three of the top six WRs from 2022 gone. Jakobe Quillen is entering his second season at UWF after spending two years with WCU. While in Cullowhee, he played in 20 games, with 5 starts and had a very solid 2021 campaign with 16 catches 258 yards and a TD. He followed that up with an 11 catch 139 yard 4 TD showing last fall in Pensacola, making the most of his limited looks. Quillen is a big bodied red zone threat, and appeared to be one of the offensive risers of spring practice.

A couple of other guys made some waves this spring, and look to capitalize in the fall. Anthony Ballard Jr., a third year player out of Discovery HS, scored the only offensive TD of the spring game, and he brings another big body to the mix (6’2” 205). He has only seen one game of action over the last two seasons, but the RS Soph. has a lot of talent and was a super productive prep, accounting for consecutive 1000 yard seasons and 25 TDs as a Junior/Senior. Pensacola native Mystikal McGhee should also factor in the WR battle, after seeing limited action in 2022. The former JUCO transfer, had 48 receptions and 681 yards over three JUCO seasons, but was also a productive HS player finishing his Senior season with 825 yards and 7 TD.

The Argos and Offensive Coordinator Ron Dickerson signed a deep WR class in 2023, bringing in four Freshman to the room, Pensacola West Florida Tech’s Pat Delcour, Wildwood HS’s Jamari Dickens, Trevon Kemmerline from Enterprise HS in Alabama (same school as Jared Smith), and Brenden Cook out of Flemming Island in Jacksonville. It is a talented bunch and WR is a spot where you can definitely make an impact early, so watch out for these four in a WR room looking for depth. Cook is the one I am keeping my eye out for specifically, because he brings a very different skillset to the field than any of the others. A track star, he currently holds an 11.08 100M PR and a state finalist in the 110 M hurdle for 3A (14.90 PR). A true deep threat, Cook could challenge right away in the slot for the Argonauts. This will be a fun group to track into camp, a lot of talent, but not a lot of experience. It’ll also be interesting to see if there is a deeper catch distribution this year, and if the offense reverts back to a little more pass happy in 2023.

Best Guess: Smith and Quillen seem like the easy answer here, but McGhee and Cook bring a different skill set especially for the slot role.