GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- With roughly a third of the season in the books, GatorBait.net stops to update its position grades. Today, we look at the defense.

Defensive End

Depth Chart: BUCK -- Dante Fowler, Neiron Ball, Alex McCalister | DE -- Jonathan Bullard, Bryan Cox Jr., Gerald Willis

Overview: Florida's top two pass rushers are Fowler and Ball. While Fowler has been extremely disruptive, he has missed out on finishing some plays in the backfield or the Gators would be in a little bit better shape. Ball hasn't had a huge impact yet as a pass-rusher, though he has forced some turnovers.

Meanwhile, McCalister has flashed as a third edge rusher, but he hasn't gotten as many snaps and hasn't been very consistent yet. The more disappointing play has come from the other side, where Bullard has been just average, even against the run, and Cox hasn't had any sort of meaningful impact yet.

Worse, Florida's nowhere near as deep as we thought at end, at least in terms of production. Willis was one of the more productive players in fall camp, but we haven't seen him in the last two weeks.

Key Question: Can anyone emerge as a consistent second pass-rusher?

Post-Camp Grade: A

Early Season Grade: B

Defensive Tackle

Depth Chart: NT -- Leon Orr, Caleb Brantley | DT -- Darious Cummings, Joey Ivie, Jay-nard Bostwick

Overview: While the ends have been disappointing so far, the tackles have actually played a little better than expected. Florida has dominated the line of scrimmage at the point of attack in the middle, the reason for its strong run defense aside from the second half of the Alabama game.

Orr has emerged as a more consistent player and really had a strong game at Alabama. Cummings gets just enough pressure up the middle to be effective, though he's had some really stupid penalties. Brantley has really emerged a strong third player in the rotation who is very strong at the point of attack and can move offensive linemen off their spot. And Ivie is a solid fourth contributor.

The depth at the position is good and the production has been good, even if there isn't yet a star inside for Florida.

Key Question: Can Brantley continue to develop and emerge and potentially take over as a true playmaker in the middle?

Post-Camp Grade: B+

Early Season Grade: A-

Linebacker

Depth Chart: WLB -- Michael Taylor, Jarrad Davis | MLB -- Antonio Morrison, Jarrad Davis | SLB -- Neiron Ball, Alex Anzalone

Overview: The Gators haven't really gotten a true step up in linebacker play from a year ago. Morrison and Taylor are basically what they have been. They're serviceable guys who will occasionally make a play but will also miss plays at times.

That Davis hasn't been more involved yet is a bit perplexing, given the fact that he's the most sudden of the linebackers and has the most game-changing potential. Whether that continues going forward will be interesting to watch.

Anzalone has emerged as solid depth, while Ball has been used mostly as an edge rusher. In any case, the play has just been average from the unit.

Key Question: Will Florida try to get Davis more involved and can he be the playmaker the unit is missing?

Post-Camp Grade: B+

Early Season Grade: B-

Cornerback

Depth Chart: CB -- Vernon Hargreaves III, Jalen Tabor | CB -- Brian Poole, Quincy Wilson | NB -- Marcus Maye, Brian Poole

Overview: The cornerback group as a whole hasn't been bad, though there have been some busts individually. Hargreaves hasn't been quite as dominant as he was a year ago, but consider that he just faced a receiver who is now in Heisman contention.

Poole has had his ups and downs, and his tackling is the biggest flaw in his game right now. He's an average cover corner on the outside. Tabor and Wilson are both raw but have flashed some upside.

Maye had a rough first outing after missing the season opener but had a very strong game against Alabama. If he can shore up his spot, the focus will really turn to the safeties in terms of the problems in the secondary. This is a good unit, but it's not a great one yet.

Key Question: After a strong showing at Alabama, will Tabor get more looks as a potential outside cornerback, allowing more flexibility with Poole as an option at nickelback?

Post-Camp Grade: B

Early Season Grade: B

Safety

Depth Chart: S -- Jabari Gorman, Marcell Harris | S Keanu Neal, Duke Dawson, Nick Washington

Overview: Safety has been a mess so far. The good news is that Neal will eventually be a great player once he knows where he's supposed to be on every play and the communication gets cleaned up.

The bad news is that could take a while if the results so far are any indication. The Gators look completely clueless in zone coverage, which really hurts. Gorman has just been bad so far, slow to adjust to fill spots and make plays.

There's a ton of work to do at safety, the problem is personnel changes probably won't solve a lot. Harris had as many busted coverages in fall camp as anyone, and Florida's got the guys out there who performed best in practice. They just have to execute a lot better.

Key Question: Are the communication problems a fixable issue?

Post-Camp Grade: B-

Early Season Grade: D

Punter

Depth Chart: Kyle Christy, Johnny Townsend

Overview: Christy has been a revelation so far, and you'd never know he lost his job a year ago. He looks exactly like the guy who nearly won the Ray Guy Award as the nation's best punter in 2012. Florida is set here barring another mental meltdown by Christy for whatever reason.

Key Question: Can Christy keep it up?

Post-Camp Grade: B+

Early Season Grade: A+