GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida is in the middle of its first practice of the fall under new coach Dan Mullen, and the media was able to view the first seven periods of practice. Swamp247 provides an in-depth report with our observations from Mullen's first outing of the fall.

Energy was high & athleticism is improved

The talk of the offseason has been about the potential gains the Gators could make from the offseason strength and conditioning improvements brought by new director of strength and conditioning Nick Savage. The first day of practice outlined those pretty clearly.

We'll get into which individuals stood out the most from a physical standpoint below, but first it was clear there was a noticeable bounce to most players, particularly coming in and out of breaks, that simply wasn't there a year ago.

The strength gains themselves are fairly obvious; there are numerous players that have completely reshaped their bodies in the course of the offseason.

But the sheer explosiveness of a number of a players was particularly eye-catching, even ones that have been talked about as guys who lack that top-end gear or explosiveness.

Nowhere was that more clear than in watching junior linebacker David Reese. Reese looks significantly bulked up in a good way. He was always a bit round, but now he looks much more powerful in his compact frame.

His explosion of his plant foot was markedly improved.

All in all, the players seemed amped and ready to go for Day 1 of practice. The receivers were another very impressive group, getting the chance to show off their new physiques in an early drill on the JUGS machine.

Balls were flying in fast at high rate of speed, often over receivers' heads. Several had extremely impressive high snags, including Tyrie Cleveland and Ole Miss transfer Van Jefferson, who looked even more athletic and springy than he did this spring.

It's still early and we'll see whether the power gains match the overall athleticism increase once the pads go on, but it was an encouraging first day in terms of actually witnessing some real transformation.

Mullen's message was about expecting to win

After the team did its initial stretching and warmup, the first-year head coach gathered his players and delivered his opening address for fall camp.

His message was pretty straightforward. First, they are going to hit all the details and nothing can get overlooked.

The second part of his message, which was the big point he was trying to drive home was that, essentially, everyone thinks they "should" have a good season. But simply showing up to practice thinking they "should" have a good season isn't enough.

Instead, Mullen was encouraging players to take the mindset that they "must" have a good season. That anything less than that was unacceptable. And for that to happen, they "must" have a great practice.

As he put it, "We must have a great season. 'I will let nothing get in the way of a great season. NOTHING,'" he said, explaining the mentality they have to have.

The quarterbacks were a mixed bag

While there were four quarterbacks repping in the spring, this is clearly down a three-man battle now with freshman Jake Allen no longer with the program.

Feleipe Franks took all of the starting reps that the media saw on the first day, while Kyle Trask was second. Both looked fairly sharp in the limited work the media saw.

The majority of the throwing that the media viewed was quarterbacks throwing to receivers on air. Both Franks and Trask were relatively sharp throughout, with a slight edge to Trask in terms of accuracy. He still hits the corner route the best among all the quarterbacks, and that's still one of the somewhat inconsistent throws for Franks.

On the other hand, Jones was a clear and significant notch below both of the sophomore quarterbacks in terms of accuracy.

He struggled hitting any sort of complex route beyond the ins, outs and curls. He frequently sailed the go route high and to the sideline, while also forcing receivers to come back to the ball on the post route. His corner routes were a bit better but still generally erratic. His passes wobble a good deal more than the tight spirals Franks and Trask throw.

That was consistent with what we saw from him in the spring, one of the main reasons he's a clear No. 3 in the battle right now.

Physical Notes

-- Freshman offensive lineman Chris Bleich might be the single most impressive physical specimen on the team. While guys like Fredrick Johnson are plenty imposing enough in terms of their huge frame, nobody screams "brick house" quite like Bleich. He is one of the most impressive-looking freshmen to come through the program in years.

-- Zachary Carter and Antonneous Clayton were two others that really stood out for their frames. Clayton looks significantly bulked up from the spring, and it appears that the staff will keep him full-time at the strong-side defensive end role.

-- Two cornerbacks really stood out for their improved physiques: Marco Wilson and Brian Edwards. Both look like they can be extremely physical press-man cornerbacks at the line of scrimmage.

Players Returning from Injury

-- Interior lineman Brett Heggie wore a knee brace but did not seem to be limited much by the knee injury that ended his season in 2017. He exploded well off the line in drills with his position group. Florida had him initially repping as the second-team left guard behind Tyler Jordan but he also took some snaps at center in drills.

-- Running back Malik Davis also wore a large brace on his injured knee and looked to be nearing full speed running in a straight line. However, he did appear a tad bit slower and more timid through cuts in a drill with running backs than he did before the season-ending injury in 2017.

-- Rush end CeCe Jefferson and linebacker Lacedrick Brunson were the only two players in non-contact jerseys, while freshman receiver Jacob Copeland warmed up by himself and did not participate in the first portion of practice. He had a knee brace on and appeared limited.

-- Safety Jeawon Taylor and receiver Kadarius Toney both practiced without a non-contact jersey after spending the majority of the spring wearing one. Both appeared fine.

Initial Two-Deep Lineups

Note that these were from initial walk-through work early in the practice. If we did not see which player was lining up at a certain spot, we left it blank. We will continue to update the depth chart as it shuffles and solidifies during fall camp.

OFFENSE

QB -- Feleipe Franks, Kyle Trask

RB -- Jordan Scarlett, Lamical Perine

WR(X) -- Van Jefferson, (Unknown)

WR(Z) -- Tyrie Cleveland, (Unknown)

WR(slot) -- Joshua Hammond, Kadarius Toney

TE -- C'yontai Lewis, Lucas Krull

LT -- Martez Ivey, (Unknown)

LG -- Tyler Jordan, Brett Heggie

C -- Nick Buchanan, Nick Villano

RG -- Fredrick Johnson, Kavaris Harkless

RT -- Jawaan Taylor, Stone Forsythe

DEFENSE

SDE -- Jabari Zuniga, (Unknown)

NT -- Khairi Clark, Elijah Conliffe

DT -- Luke Ancrum, Tedarrell Slaton

RE -- Jachai Polite, Jeremiah Moon

LB -- David Reese, Rayshad Jackson

LB -- Vosean Joseph, Kylan Johson

CB -- Marco Wilson, Trey Dean

NB -- Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, (Unknown)

S -- Jeawon Taylor, Quincy Lenton

S -- Shawn Davis, (Unknown)

CB -- CJ Henderson, Brian Edwards

Other Odds & Ends

-- The running back rotation through drills was fairly different through each set of repetions on Day 1, but Jordan Scarlett was the clear-cut starter at the position. Lamical Perine and Malik Davis seemed to get the most action directly after Scarlett went through a drill.

-- Freshman tight end Kyle Pitts impressed with his athleticism. He's a lengthy option who moved more like a big receiver than a tight end.

-- Center T.J. McCoy repped behind Nick Buchanan and walk-on Nick Villano and did not appear to take many snaps during the early portion of practice open to the media.

-- Freshman linebacker David Reese is another player that jumped off the field in terms of athleticism. He moves very fluidly for a player his size working with the linebackers.

-- Florida continued to place a very heavy emphasis on special teams early in practice, with special teams coordinator Greg Knox using a microphone to direct the action. Coach Dan Mullen was very hands-on during this portion of practice instructing players on different techniques, while cornerbacks coach Charlton Warren was also very vocal and involved.

-- There were only a handful of drops from receivers in the early portions of practice. Ohio State transfer Trevon Grimes dropped one off the JUGS machine and another on a low throw in routes on air. Tight end Lucas Krull also dropped one in routes on air, while receiver Joshua Hammond juggled and ultimately dropped a go route in the routes-on-air portion.

*** We've made the first edition of our VIP practice notes free for all readers. If you want to take advantage of the most in-depth practice reports of the Florida Gators throughout the fall, though, don't hesitate to sign up for our exclusive VIP subscription to get all the latest as Dan Mullen heads toward his first season in the Swamp. ***