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Former Florida football coach Billy Napier and staff built the high school class, and then new head coach Jon Sumrall and staff came in and supplemented the roster with over 30 Transfer Portal signings. Today Inside the Gators takes a closer look at the class by handing out position grades and breaking down the biggest storylines of the cycle.
GRADES
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| POS | ADDITIONS | COMMENT | GRADE |
| QB | * Griffin * Philo | Considering what was returning at the position, there was a need for at least one more quarterback with real game experience, if not one who is a legitimate starting candidate. As it is, Florida added a high school signal caller to go with a Transfer Portal addition who had but one career start (against an FSC opponent) and a sub 56% completion percentage against P4 competition. | C |
| RB | *Montgomery * Pryor | With the late defection of Carsyn Baker to Texas A&M, Florida didn’t add a back through the high school ranks, but did add two experienced and potential contributors to the room via the Portal. Combined with what the Gators are bringing back, this is potentially one of the stronger positions on the team. | B+ |
| WR | * Ciongoli * Daniels * Groce * Lloyd * Mays Jr. * Singleton Jr. * Stockton * Williams | Florida invested heavily in the receiver corps, with eight of the 14 players on the roster new to the team this year. Micah Mays Jr. could surprise, and you have to like what Jaylen Lloyd contributed as a deep threat a couple of years ago at Nebraska. However, it was the late addition of Eric Singleton Jr. that caused what looked to be a so-so group to be raised a full letter grade. | A- |
| TE | * Brown Jr. * Chieca * Dippre * Harpring * Kent | For the last couple of years, UF’s tight ends simply have not been SEC-caliber. Nice guys, yes. But, better people than they were players. The Gators completely revamped their tight end room, and rightfully so. However, has it significantly improved? The most significant addition is Lacota Dippre, a G5 starter who had 17 catches for 192-yards last season. That is hardly eye popping production. The good news for UF is that no matter what, they almost certainly can’t be any worse than what has been here lately. | D+ |
| OL | * Boyer * Brown * Campbell * Carr * Chukuyem * Green * Luckas * Moore * Shanahan * Ugorji | It isn’t by mistake that three of the four Portal additions followed their previous coach here. I would expect all three to seriously challenge for starting jobs, and if healthy, be top-eight type of linemen. Emeka Ugorji is a bit of a Portal anomaly because he looks like he is a ways away from contributing. Do you really pay to bring in a transfer to develop when you already have six (five if you don’t count Corey Brown) signees to develop? Speaking of the incoming freshmen signees, I would expect Chancellor Campbell, Desmond Green, and Tyler Chukuyem to put up a fight for playing time this spring. | C+ |
| DL | * Clinton * Guervil * Kalu * McCoy * Oyebadejo | If there is a singular position where you could point out that you are completely underwhelmed with what Florida brought in compared to what was needed, it would be along the interior of the defensive line. We’ll assume Kendall Guervil needs some time to recover from his knee injury, which leaves Emmanuel Oyebadejo as the only addition who was really highly coveted by other P4 programs. What was brought in simply isn’t enough. The saving grace here might be in the form of Gerald Chatman, who last year proved his worth by overcoming injury after injury to produce a damn good line, that performed above its head until the very end of the season. | C– |
| JACK | * Ford Jr. | The C grade isn’t based just on bringing in KJ Ford Jr. If UF only needed one edge rusher, he would have been sufficient enough to garner at least a B+ if not an A- grade. However, outside of Jaylen Woods, the Jack room has a lot of question marks, and this singular addition didn’t fully address them. | C |
| LB | * Bullard * Morris | Because of what they were returning, Florida didn’t need a whole lot at linebacker – and they didn’t get a whole lot. TJ Bullard, a Gator legacy, was mostly a special teams player for UCF, so don’t expect much more from him in Gainesville. Malik Morris is an interesting signee. In today’s game, programs look for linebackers who are also capable of dropping into coverage, whereas Morris was more of a one-trick, run-stopping, pony at Lakeland. He is as thick as a freshman linebacker, as you will see, and will strike, but doesn’t look that mobile. | D |
| CB | * Bronaugh * Hester * Lowery | Because J’Vari Flowers and Ben Hanks III started to come on at the end of the season, there wasn’t a great need a cornerback. The B grade I gave them is centered mostly on what I expect CJ Bronaugh to contribute right off the bat (considering he bulks up somewhat). CJ Hester could surprise. Speaking of surprises, UF took Jordy Lowery from East Carolina one year after he was an FCS All-American for Western Carolina in 2024. He is the most experienced cornerback on the roster, but may struggle to be third team no the depth chart when all are healthy. | B |
| S/STAR | * Clark * Coleman * Dooley * Hall * Owens * Purter | Probably the single most impressive haul is what Florida was able to do upgrading the safety/star positions. If everything plays out, you may have to wait a year longer to see Lagonza Hayward and Hylton Stubbs make a significant impact while they wait and learn behind Portal signees DJ Coleman and Cam Dooley. Those two alone look to be a significant upgrade over Jordan Castell and Bryce Thornton. The late signing class addition of Dylan Purter at Star could also be another contributor in the room. Kanye Clark could be one to watch at Star. He played nine games, with two starts, for UCLA last year and seemed to be around the ball a lot. | A |
| ST | * Clark * Durkin * Fealy * Milliron * Padron * Solwold | Six of the eight players Florida lists on the updated roster have been brought in via the Transfer Portal. Will Patrick Durkin (K) and Alec Clark (P) be an upgrade over Trey Smack and Tommy Doman? Perhaps not, at least not right away, but they are an upgrade from what UF was scheduled to return to the fold had they not signed these two Tulane transfers. | B |
| OFF | The bottom line is that what Florida has now is what Florida is going to have for the season. Meaning that there are a lot of questions at quarterback, tight end, and along the line. Even if you have complete confidence in Buster Faulkner, he is going to need a whole lot to go his way for this group to perform at an SEC level because, outside of receiver and Jadan Baugh, the roster was basically torn down to its roots. | C | |
| DEF | Yes, they are lacking when it came to adding an edge rusher and linebacker, but if the likes of Jaylen Woods, Myles Graham, and Company continue to improve, they can afford to go light numbers-wise there. They covered their bases in the secondary, but came up way short at defensive tackle. Florida is one or two more interior defensive linemen away from a legitimate A grade on the defensive side of the ball. | B- | |
| OVERALL | In a line of scrimmage league, Florida came up a bit short on adding difference makers along the line on both sides of the ball. Now, realize the grades are based on just the new additions; it doesn’t count being able to resign the likes of Vernell Brown III, Jadan Baugh, Jayden Woods, Myles Graham, and so on and so forth. | C |
TOP THREE STORYLINES
SAVING THE CLASS
It is hard to believe that Florida suffered but one defection after Billy Napier and staff were let go. Carsyn Baker decommitted and ended up at Texas A&M. That’s it. A lone decommitment from a class that had a handful of national-type commitments. Davian Groce, Kevin Ford Jr., and CJ Bronaugh could have gone almost anywhere else. Yes, retaining Katie Doeker made a difference, as does the UF brand, and improved player experience (facilities, GatorMade, Stadium House), but this is where it would come in handy to know the inner workings of NIL. To think that money didn’t play a huge part in retention would be too simplistic (and idealistic of you) an outlook. Money matters, in some of these instances, it matters most of all. Regardless. Look around at other programs (hello Penn State) that replaced their head coach and see the damage that was done. UF completely avoided that level of meltdown.
KEEPING THE CORE
As much as a content piece like this is centered on what Florida was able to add to the roster in the offseason, an even bigger storyline is what the Gators were able to keep in the fold. If the day Billy Napier was fired, you were to put together a list of the Top 10 players that Florida most needed to retain, in the end, the Gators likely resigned nine of them. Because it happened so early, without as much fanfare, keeping the likes of Vernell Brown III and Myles Graham got the new staff off on firm footing, but don’t let that lull you into forgetting that it was equally as important to bring back the core of the cornerback room, some of the younger players along the offensive line, defensivie line and at linebacker. Had they lost them, it would have dug a much deeper hole to climb out of. Then, to finish it off by being able to bring back Jadan Baugh and Jaylen Woods not only solidified the team, but it gave the fan base a much-needed dose of adrenaline after the disappointment that initially came with missing out on Lane Kiffin.
QUARTERBACK ROOM
With all due respect to incoming cornerbacks coach Brandon Harris, in my opinion, over the last 15 years, we likely have to go back to his brother Treon Harris‘ first two seasons at Florida to find a quarterback room to challenge this one as the worst we’ve seen. Then again, Jeff Driskel and Will Grier were also in Gainesville at that time, so perhaps this is, at least until someone steps up to show us differently, the least proven. How do you justify spending so much money on the receiver room to have a quarterback roster that features but one start, that being by Aidan Warner, a walk-on from the Ivy League, against P4 competition? They are putting a lot of eggs into Aaron Philo‘s basket based on very limited game film (yes, I realize Buster Faulkner saw him in practice as well).
THE BOTTOM LINE
Florida added some top-end players and filled some positions of need, but came up short in some other areas. Look, unless you have the deep pockets of a Texas A&M, Texas Tech, or Miami, that just may be the new world order when it comes to college football. You have to think that with an easier schedule, and (at least you hope) improved coaching, this roster can get to eight or nine wins. You would, however, feel much better about those chances had UF added one more experienced quarterback, a difference maker in the middle of the defensive line, and a top-end offensive tackle. They didn’t, so a lot of things will have to fall in Jon Sumrall‘s favor for UF to inch its way back toward the top half of the SEC.
Why do you follow or report on this team if you hate it so much.
You gave us bad grades almost all the way around.