Where Does Florida Turn After Caleb Banks' Long-Term Injury?

Originally posted on Florida Gators on SI
By Dylan Olive | Last updated Sep 18, 2025 2:28 PM ET

The Florida Gators felt incomplete with Caleb Banks missing early in the season, and just as soon as he was back filling in the gap in the middle of the Gators' defense, the future NFL draft pick was gone again, leaving a giant hole needing to be filled for Billy Napier and the Florida defensive front.

While it is a devastating loss for a Gators program seemingly spiraling early on in the year, Napier believes that Florida’s young depth is enough to be effective in Banks' now likely permanent absence.

“We got a really good group. I'm excited about what I see out of the young players in the group,” Napier said ahead of a matchup against Miami. “Still enough players there to have a very effective group.”

With Michai Boireau, who started in Banks' place in the first two games of the season before missing the LSU game, uncertain to play, Napier mentioned five players who can step up this week.

Tarvorise Brown, Joseph Mbatchou, Brendan Bett, Brien Taylor Jr. and the returning Jamari Lyons were all players the Gators head coach mentioned on Wednesday at the position, highlighting a strong belief in an important depth that Florida has built on the defensive line. Of the group, Bett, Lyons and Taylor have seen the majority of playing time in 2025, though nine total players have seen snaps in the interior.

With even more opportunities up for grabs now, the unit has plenty of motivation to step up after seeing Banks go down.

“It is motivation for the whole team, but I say really for the D-line, the younger guys to just get to step up and just to have an older guy who did all those big plays, it should make you go harder," veteran safety Jordan Castell said when asked about the impact of Bank’s injury. “It hurt the whole team. Caleb, he’s a great leader, you know, a guy you always see helping a younger kid. But I know he is still going to be around helping so it is good to have him in the room still.”

Though now without possibly the best players on Florida’s entire defense, the mood around the position doesn’t feel even the slightest bit bleak. Instead, there seems to be a confidence in the youth that the Gators will now rely on.

“Oh yeah, of course,” Castell said when asked if they felt good about Banks’ replacements at the position. “We got a lot of guys on that D-line… I like all of them. I like all of them.”

Heading into a rivalry matchup against the fourth-ranked Miami Hurricanes, Florida will likely need all hands on deck, with the young depth needing to grow up quickly for the Gators to have a chance at an upset in Hard Rock Stadium at 7:30 P.M. Saturday.

This article first appeared on Florida Gators on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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