Gators OL Dealt Big Loss with Injury to 5-Star True Freshman Martez Ivey

Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @HogManInLA

What was a perceived weakness on paper for the Gators entering 2015 fall camp, took a turn for the better, but then within a week and a half until the season opener against New Mexico State took a turn for the worst. On Thursday new Florida head coach Jim McElwain had the displeasure of announcing stud true freshman offensive lineman Martez Ivey was out indefinitely after having surgery on his leg.

The Gators’ offensive line returned just one starter from last year’s squad, senior center Trip Thurman. McElwain and offensive line coach Mike Summers patched a line together of Thurman, Ivey, true freshman Fred Johnson, redshirt freshman Travaris Dorsey, and graduate transfer Mason Halter with David Sharpe and Antonio Riles all fighting for a spot.

On Tuesday McElwain was singing his praises about how well the offensive line had come together stating, “I’m real proud of those young offensive linemen. They don’t look out of place. They are grasping it (and) playing hard.”

On Thursday McElwain was vague when answering questions about the nature of Ivey’s injury only saying, “It’s a leg. I don’t know, just one of them. I don’t know. I know it’s one of the two. And there’s a lot of leg left there too, so I don’t know if it’s a knee. It’s in the leg, so I don’t know.”

Reports from the Orlando Sentinel have Ivey undergoing arthroscopic surgery on Friday. The nature of the injury or the timeframe Ivey could be out is unknown.

Ivey (6’5”, 302) had been penciled in as a starting right tackle but his progress had prompted a move to left tackle, perhaps one of the highest compliments to give a true freshman offensive lineman, the honor of starting at left tackle in the SEC.

Before matriculating onto the Gainesville campus, Ivey was everybody’s All-American for Apopka High School as part of the 2015 recruiting class. He was a two-time Class 8A first-team selection at left tackle and a tremendous “get” for the McElwain as he was putting together his first recruiting class as head coach for Florida.

Photo credit: thegatorfanatic.com; Martez Ivey in his Apopka uniform.