Ja’Markis Weston has officially moved to the defensive side of the ball as a safety after a season in which he did not log any catches as a member of Florida’s wide receiver corps. Florida head coach Billy Napier said the team made this decision to increase the number of scholarship players in the secondary.
The Gators now have nine scholarship receivers and nine total safety players as a result of the change.
“To be honest, I believe that this is a position that is a little thin,” Napier remarked on Saturday after Florida’s first spring practice. Ja’Markis is a player that has excelled for us in special teams play. He’s performed admirably both on the punt and cover teams.”
In his four seasons as a Gator, Weston, who was formerly rated as a three-star prospect by the industry-produced 247Sports Composite, has not produced much on the offensive end. With the most of his reps coming on special teams, where he has returned six kicks for 85 yards total and one punt for 14 yards, the 6-foot-3, 225-pound player has only tallied six total catches for 81 yards and a touchdown since 2019.
Napier claims that Weston’s success as a special teams tackle led to coaches moving him to a different position.
We ask those four key offensive players to participate in tackling circuits during a lot of drills, according to Napier. “I think the defensive staff felt like observing him in those settings that he had the skillset.”
Another element was the amount of time Weston spent playing defense throughout his time in high school.