Position group breakdown:
QB - Franks has 9 TD passes, JG has 2. JG completes 73% of his passes, Franks 53%. Franks has thrown for more yards. Both are about the same experience-wise, both have flashed talent but both have generally had underwhelming careers thus far. Edge - Even.
RB’s - UF’s main two are Scarlett and Perine, UT’s main two are Chandler and Jordan. All four are solid SEC backs but UF’s duo has much more experience in big games. Scarlett has 232 career carries with 8 TD’s, Perine has 240 career carries with 9 TD’s. Perine is also an excellent receiver out the backfield with 20 career catches. Comparatively, Chandler has 87 career carries and 3 TD’s, Jordan is less experienced with 59 carries and 2 TD’s. Edge - Florida
TE - probably the least talented group on the field for either team. UF has several options here with Cyontai Lewis, Moral Stephens, Kemore Gamble and Lucas Krull, but none of them have huge production this season or in their careers so far. Lewis is an experienced senior with 29 career catches and 5 TD’s, but Gator fans will quickly tell you how bad he sucks. Lewis has at least 10 drops in his career. UT has Eli Wolf, Austin Pope and Dominick Woods-Anderson. Woods-Anderson has 4 catches and a score and he’s probably played the best of all the TE’s for both teams so far. So for that: Edge - UT.
WR’s - there is really good talent at this position on both sides. Callaway and Jennings are proven big time players in the SEC for UT with guys like Palmer, Johnson and Murphy coming along nicely. Van Jefferson is a big time player for Florida and is leading the team with 8 catches and 3 TD’s. Tyree Cleveland and Kedarius Toney are also proven big time SEC players. Freddie Swain and Trevon Grimes are also promising playmakers. Career-wise, Jennings’ huge year in 2016 and Van Jefferson’s 91 catches at Ole Miss before transferring to Florida make them the two biggest threats on each team, although Callaway is having a better year so far for UT. Tough call, but I have to call this one - Even.
Offensive line - not even devoting brain energy to analyze this one too deeply because it’s very obvious the fan bases for both teams are not happy with their o-lines. Sadly for Florida, every single o-lineman has numerous career starts, tons of experience, but the inconsistencies are beyond frustrating. I will say the pass protection this year has been much better, but the inability to block people in the run game makes this unit average to below average. Tennessee fans seem to feel the same way about their o-line; too inconsistent and too soft (like UF) to give anyone much confidence. Opposite of the WR’s, where it’s even because both teams are pretty good, this position is even because both teams are pretty bad. Edge - Even.
Defensive line - I think depth and the rush ends give UF a slight edge here. Rush ends of Jabari Zuniga, Cece Jefferson and Jachai Polite are tough to deal with at times. UT trots out some solid players with Tuttle, Bain, Johnson and Phillips but I simply think UF’s playmakers on the edge give them a slight edge - Edge - Florida.
Linebackers - Bituli and Kirkland are the best two LB’s on either team unless David Reese is back and healthy for UF. UF is talented but very young at LB, or their experienced LB’s are the journeyman type. David Reese was a critical piece for UF coming into the season and was a huge loss when he rolled his ankle in fall camp. Kentucky was able to really exploit his absence and pretty much ran at will versus UF without UF’s best run-stuffer patrolling the middle. I think UT’s ability to run on UF and exploit their LB’s is their best chance to win. Even if Reese is back, you have to wonder if he’s in game shape as he hasn’t played yet this year. Edge - UT.
Secondary - had UF not lost Marco Wilson to an ACL versus Kentucky, this would be a no-brainer and huge advantage for UF. Even without Wilson, I think UF has the best two DB’s on the field in CJ Henderson and Chauncey Gardner. Henderson has 5 career picks including 2 pick-sixes and will be a 1st round NFL pick. Beyond that, UF is very young in the secondary. True freshman Trey Dean will eventually be great, but he’s still a true freshman. UF’s safeties are not reliable. Kentucky heaved two TD’s on broken plays because the safeties got lost in coverage. This is another area where UT has to take a few shots against UF. Warrior and Abernathy are solid, experienced players for UT, but the corners are young. The West Virginia game makes this one tough on UT because the entire game seemed to be UT’s DB’s chasing down WV’s WR’s. Maybe that game skews my opinion unfairly but I simply think Henderson and Garner give UF the advantage here. Edge - UF.
Special teams - I know UF fans have been absolutely thrilled with the improvements on special teams. UT fans seem to be pleased as well for the most part, although the punt return unit hasn’t been impressive. Due to 4 blocked kicks, one for a TD, plus a punt return TD... edge - UF.
Coaching - Even. Too early to call this one, both new coaches with new teams.
Intangibles - edge - UT. Home field advantage, period.