The Florida Gators, coming off a 5-7 season, return 14 starters on offense and defense under third-year coach Billy Napier, who is more bullish on his team’s chances than some prognosticators.

“I believe in our team,” Napier said at SEC Football Media Days on Wednesday. “When people ask me why, it’s about experience. It’s about production. We’ve got 463 starts on this team, 17 starters returning. We’ve got 41,000 snaps coming back this year, and we’re fourth in our league in returning production. We’ve got competitive depth for the first time.”

In addition, four UF players were named to preseason All-SEC teams in the media poll. Running back Montrell Johnson Jr. was named to the All-SEC second team, while cornerback Jason Marshall Jr., punter Jeremy Crawshaw and kicker Trey Smack earned All-SEC third team honors.

Marshall Jr. posted a team-high 10 pass breakups for the Gators last season and has started 28 straight games at cornerback over the last three seasons.

Smack went 17 of 21 on field goal attempts for the Gators last season, including 11-for-11 inside 40 yards, and was a perfect 29-for-29 on extra point attempts. Crawshaw displayed a booming leg in his third season at UF’s starting punter last season, averaging 48.9 yards per attempt, with six punts of 60 yards or more. He downed 15 punts inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.

Florida opens the season Aug. 31 at The Swamp against rival Miami (3:30 p.m., ABC).

Predicted Order of Finish

Georgia 3330

Texas 3041

Alabama 2891

Ole Miss 2783

LSU 2322

Missouri 2240

Tennessee 2168

Oklahoma 2022

Texas A&M 1684

Auburn 1382

Kentucky 1371

Florida 1146

South Carolina 923

Arkansas 749

Mississippi State 623

Vanderbilt 293

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What SEC football network analysts think of Florida football entering the 2024 season

It’s talking season, and expectations for Florida football entering the 2024 aren’t high.

USA Today picked the Florida Gators to finish 12th out of 16 teams in the SEC in its preseason poll this week.

Even though Florida returns 14 starters, the prevailing thought is the Gators still don’t have the talent and depth to hang with the elite teams in the conference. Florida has gone 11-14 in their first two seasons under head coach Billy Napier, including 6-10 in league. There’s also a daunting schedule for UF to face, ranked the most difficult in the country per ESPN Football Power Index.