Mullen thinks four-star Watkins will play defense first
Florida four-star signee Justin Watkins won't arrive on campus until this summer, but coach Dan Mullen thinks he'll start off playing cornerback when he arrives.
https://florida.247sports.com/Bolt/...tar-Watkins-will-play-defense-first-116267585
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- One of Florida's bigger question marks this spring is who will step in to provide some depth at cornerback behind proven starters
Marco Wilson and
C.J. Henderson.
None of the returning players on the current roster have done much, but a guy who will arrive this fall could make an impact there.
For now, coach
Dan Mullen envisions four-star athlete
Justin Watkins starting his career on the defensive side of the ball at cornerback. Watkins was rated as the No. 89 overall player in the country and was the fourth-highest rated prospect in Florida's 2018 signing class.
"Justin and I talked the other day. I think he might start at corner," coach
Dan Mullen said. "That’s changed here or there, a couple different times. One of the things I told him -- I said, 'hey, we come to meetings, you get here the first day, you split into positional meetings. Where are you going to go?
"(He's) like, 'Wherever you want me to go, coach.' I’m not going to tell you where to go. I want to see where you feel most comfortable. When you look at a guy that’s a phenomenal athlete and has all the positional flexibility he has, I kind of say: where do you feel most comfortable?"
So it's certainly not set in stone that Watkins will be a cornerback, and whether he is could partly be determined based on how spring football plays out. If the Gators have unexpected contributors emerge at cornerback, perhaps he gets a look at receiver.
That could also happen if transfers
Van Jefferson and/or
Trevon Grimes aren't able to get an immediate eligibility waiver.
But if there aren't pressing needs at either position, Mullen sounds like he'll leave it up to Watkins ultimately.
"What we’ll do is, we’ll see what you do, what your ability and talent is, where that best fits the system," Mullen said. "For me to sit there and say, I think he’s going to be great at this position -- I’ve done that before, and I don’t look real smart at times. This guy, we recruit – we’re going to recruit him to be a corner, and they’re just absolutely terrible. And then, so we end up moving him to slot receiver, and he’s a great player. We recruit a guy to be a running back, and he’s a big-time free safety. I’ve had players before that think they’re a big-time running back, but they’re not. But they’re a big-time outside linebacker."
In other words, the expectation is that Watkins will figure into the defensive numbers, but Mullen won't get locked into that if Watkins isn't happy with it or he's not playing well there.
"I think a lot of that, once they get on the field it makes it easier, because you want to put them in a position to be the most successful," Mullen said. "But the last conversation I had with him the other day, he said he wants to start at corner, but that’s changed a couple times, and it’s still only March. Depends on what he had for breakfast this morning."
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