Myles Graham has emerged as a team leader and the leading tackler a season ago. (Photo: Madilyn Gemme/UAA Communications)
Gators Position Preview: Linebackers
Monday, August 31, 2026 | Football
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By: Ryan Roddy, FloridaGators.com Student Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The linebacker position has always meant something special to Florida head coach Jon Sumrall.
Sumrall himself was a linebacker in his playing days at Kentucky and likes to joke that he led the team in "trips" as a junior, before an injury ultimately ended his football career. His playing career ended early, but his connection to the position never left.
Still, that instinctive mentality to make something happen never left him.
Before becoming a head coach at Troy, Tulane and Florida and serving as Kentucky's defensive coordinator, Sumrall spent years coaching linebackers at Kentucky, Ole Miss and Troy.
You may have noticed that Sumrall is a very hands-on coach. He showed he still gets involved with the linebackers at practice.
Florida returns 1,605 of the 1,641 snaps played by its linebackers last season — nearly 98 percent of the position's production. Of those returning, Myles Graham is the headliner. Graham was one of the players Florida most needed to retain following last season. The son of former Gators and Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Earnest Graham, he led the team with 76 tackles in 2025 and emerged as one of the defense's most versatile playmakers. He also found himself as a disruptor in opposing teams' backfields, collecting eight QB hurries, seven tackles for loss and two sacks. He also did his work in coverage with four pass breakups, which tied for second-most among FBS linebackers. In 2024, Graham was a Freshman All-SEC selection, and before this season he made the Butkus Award Watch List and the Allstate Wuerffel Trophy Watch List.
Jaden Robinson, No. 29, started all 12 games a season ago and finished with 50 tackles. (Photo: Jordan Perez/UAA Communications)
Jaden Robinson and Aaron Chiles are key players at the position. Graham will be the headliner, but Robinson and Chiles give Florida three linebackers with meaningful experience and proven production. Both have played consistently since entering the college ranks, with strong production, including a combined 102 tackles last season. Robinson, like Graham, was also named to the Shriners Children's East-West Bowl 1000 List (2026). Myles Johnson and Ty Jackson saw limited playing time for the Gators in 2025. The sophomores add depth and gained valuable reps in the spring and preseason camp. Jackson gained traction and received praise from Sumrall. As for the newcomers, one a freshman, one a fifth-year, they can contribute, too. ESPN listed Malik Morris as a four-star recruit and the No. 2 linebacker nationally. Listed at 6-foot, 246 pounds, Morris has the physicality to punish ballcarriers. TJ Bullard has ties to the UF football family. His brother, Titus Bullard, plays JACK for the Gators, while his father is former Florida defensive end Thaddeus Bullard, known to WWE fans as Titus O'Neil. Graham is also his cousin. At UCF last year, Bullard was primarily used on special teams.
If season started today: Florida's linebacker rotation starts with Graham, Robinson and Chiles. All three have already proven themselves at the college level, giving the Gators an experienced core at one of the defense's most important positions. With a fresh defensive scheme under coordinator Brad White, including a Sumrall touch that highlights linebackers, the three have an opportunity to take big leaps in 2026.
Speculation: There isn't much conjecture surrounding this room. It is a solid, bona fide group that will be ready to go Week 1 against FAU. The biggest question is who will emerge as the fourth linebacker in the group.
Quote of note: "I just want to be the guy that guys can lean on and go out and attack, play fast, play physical. If you do that, do your job, take care of everything, all those goals and everything that I have for myself will take care of itself." – Graham on his season outlook
