Florida received devastating news on Sunday afternoon, when it was announced that seven of its players would be suspended for the season-opening game against Michigan — junior receiver Antonio Callaway, junior defensive end Keivonnis Davis, sophomore defensive lineman Richerd Desir-Jones, freshmen linebackers James Houston and Ventrell Miller, redshirt freshman defensive lineman Jordan Smith, and freshman offensive lineman Kadeem Telfort.
Callaway is the only one of the seven who was projected to start for the Gators this season, and is by far the biggest loss of the group.
On a Florida offense that struggled mightily the past two years, Callaway has been one of the few bright spots.
As a freshman in 2015, he caught 35 passes for 678 yards and four touchdowns, while averaging a whopping 19.4 yards per catch. He also excelled on special teams, returning two punts for touchdowns.
Callaway followed up an impressive freshman campaign with an even better sophomore season, catching 54 passes for 721 yards and three touchdowns, while also returning a kickoff for a touchdown.
Heading into 2017, Florida's offense appears to severely lack playmakers, and Callaway would have been one of the few. In fact, Lindy’s college football magazine referred to him not only as one of Florida’s best players, but as “one of the SEC’s top playmakers.”
Meanwhile, Athlon’s college football magazine stated that “defenses will key on him,” due to his 14.5 yards per touch the past two years.
In Callaway’s absence, senior receiver Brandon Powell becomes Florida’s most productive weapon, with just 924 career receiving yards. After Powell, sophomore Tyrie Cleveland is the next-most experienced weapon for the Gators, with just 298 career yards.
Florida’s passing attack struggled mightily last season with Callaway, throwing for just 215.8 yards per game, which ranked 79th in the country.
On top of that, the Gators will likely be breaking in a new starting quarterback — either redshirt freshman Feleipe Franks or fifth-year senior Malik Zaire — both of which have never played a snap in Gainesville.
Needless to say, the job of Michigan’s young secondary just got a whole lot easier. Junior Tyree Kinnel and sophomore Josh Metellus appear to be the Wolverines’ likely starters at safety, while the battle for the starting cornerback jobs seem to be much more open.
Redshirt juniors Brandon Watson and Drake Harris, redshirt sophomore Keith Washington, sophomores David Long and Lavert Hill, and freshmen Benjamin St-Juste and Ambry Thomas are all vying for starting positions, and the two who win the job will have the luxury of not having to deal with Callaway.
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