Florida football: 5 breakout players to watch in 2020

Which five Florida football players could have a breakout season in 2020?

Florida football needs a handful of players to have breakout seasons to get past Georgia football.

This is a big year for the Florida Gators on their quest to being the best team in the SEC. Florida has been atop the SEC mountain before and it’s a glorious site. However, the Gators haven’t been SEC champions since Tim Tebow played for them in Gainesville and Urban Meyer was their coach. They now work for rival sports television networks and they haven’t been at Florida in 10 years.

Florida has been to Atlanta a few times since Meyer and Tebow left, but haven’t been able to get past the dreaded Alabama Crimson Tide on that first Saturday in December. While this year is, has been and will continue to be totally different, maybe Florida is able to use that to its advantage, win the SEC East, get to Atlanta, beat Alabama or whoever and reach the College Football Playoff?

For any of those good things to happen, Florida must have a handful of players step up for them in a big way. As with the other 13 SEC teams, the Gators will have to navigate a brutal 10-game, conference-only schedule. Unless someone like Alabama gets incredibly lucky, nobody, not even the Gators, will come out of that gauntlet unscathed. Then again, crazier things have happened.

Here are five Florida football players poised to breakout this season.

Ventrell Miller was a former three-star recruit out of Kathleen High School in nearby Lakeland, Florida. After being suspended by the team ahead of what would have been his true freshman season, Miller was reinstated in January 2018 and has gradually worked his way into being a key part of Todd Grantham’s defense.

As a redshirt freshman in 2018, Miller had 15 total tackles, two for a loss of yardage, a sack and an interception, playing primarily on special teams and in a reserve role. Miller saw even more action as a redshirt sophomore last year, as he made 11 starts in 12 games for the Gators, totaling 55 tackles (27 solo, 28 assists), 5.5 for a loss of yardage and three sacks.

Now entering what should have been his true senior season, Miller is ready to make even more noise as a key member of this defense. We know how much Grantham and his disciple Christian Robinson lean on the play of their linebackers. Last year saw Miller finish second on the team in tackles. Let’s not rule out him being the team leader this fall in a shortened, 10-game season.

The quickest way for the Gators to get past Georgia in Jacksonville is to win with defense. By holding the opposing offenses in check, Florida can give its starting quarterback Kyle Trask the best shot of having success in his first full-year as the Gators’s starter. Miller has progressed each season in Florida, so look for him to have the breakout season we’re all hoping for out of him.