GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- While his former teammates prepare for the start of spring camp Monday, Dante Fowler Jr. is preparing for the start of his NFL career.
Considered a likely first-round draft pick after finishing his junior season with a team-high 8 1/2 sacks, Fowler's stock has skyrocketed in the two months since he capped his UF career with three sacks in the Birmingham Bowl against East Carolina.
Fowler impressed NFL personnel last month at the NFL Combine and is now considered a top-five overall pick by most draft analysts, confirming Fowler made a wise choice by leaving school a year early.
Fowler announced his decision before Jim McElwain took over the program, and while McElwain and new defensive line coach Chris Rumph would have welcomed Fowler's return with open arms, they never had a chance.
The Gators did receive good news after the Birmingham Bowl when senior Jonathan Bullard announced he was coming back for his final season.
Bullard and Fowler arrived in the same 2012 signing class and as Fowler developed into one of the SEC's top defensive linemen, Bullard's progress came at a slower pace.
The key word is "progress."
Bullard began to blossom near the end of last season and finished with a career-high 52 tackles, 8 1/2 tackles for loss, and 2 1/2 sacks. Bullard has played defensive end and tackle during his career but appears more suited inside based on his increased production in 2014.
The Gators lose three players who contributed at defensive tackle last season in Darious Cummings, Gerald Willis and Leon Orr.
Cummings started at nose tackle and finished with 30 tackles and two sacks. Orr recorded 16 tackles in five games before his UF career ended infamously when he was sent home from Nashville for a disagreement with former head coach Will Muschamp about his status in the lineup.
And Willis, a true freshman last season who took on a more prominent role following Orr's exit, is set to transfer to Miami after a tumultuous stay at UF that included off-the-field issues.
Despite those losses, the Gators have talent and depth for Rumph to work with. Rumph was hired in February after spending last season at Texas.
Rumph worked with McElwain at Alabama and has a reputation as a strong developer of talent and a heavy hitter on the recruiting trail.
Redshirt junior defensive end Alex McCalister began to fulfill his promise as a pass rusher with six sacks last season, second on the team to Fowler.
The 6-foot-6, 238-pound McCalister continues to try and add bulk to his frame as he assumes a bigger role in Fowler's absence. Junior Bryan Cox Jr. also had his best season in 2014, finishing with four sacks and 29 tackles.
Cox underwent hip surgery after the regular season and remains sidelined from live drills this spring.
The most experienced returners inside are tackles Calber Brantley and Joey Ivie.
A redshirt sophomore, Brantley (6-2, 319) has added 24 pounds since last season and earned a start in the Birmingham Bowl. He finished with 21 tackles and four tackles for loss.
Meanwhile, Ivie had 24 tackles and three tackles for loss and plays with a physical style that is needed up front.
The rest of the defensive line prospects are young and inexperienced.
The most intriguing of the group is perhaps redshirt freshman Thomas Holley. A former basketball player, Holley briefly competed in fall camp last season for a spot in the two-deep rotation at defensive tackle before undergoing surgery to repair a torn hip labrum.
The 6-foot-3 Holley is powerful and quick for a player listed at 320 pounds. If healthy, he has the potential to be a difference-maker.
Redshirt sophomore tackle Jay-nard Bostwick, redshirt freshman Taven Bryan, redshirt freshman Khairi Clark, redshirt freshman Justus Reed and redshirt sophomore Jordan Sherit are other young players the new coaching staff will watch closely.
Bryan, who came to UF from Casper, Wyo., had added 15 pounds and is up to 275. Bostwick played in five games last season, finishing with three tackles, but was behind Brantley and Ivie on the depth chart inside at the end of the season.
Reed, projected as an outside rusher in the mold of McCalister, is up to 226 pounds. He was listed at 6-3, 213 last fall.
With Fowler gone, the Gators have a big hole to fill on the defensive line in what is expected to be one of the Gators' most competitive position battles this spring.
