The state of Florida produces speed at the skill positions in abundance, and the whole country recruits the state for that reason. The Gators have an advantage of being the flagship program within the borders, so when UF has been good, it’s always been in part due to having excellence at the receiver position.
It’s something of a canary in the coal mine as well. If Florida doesn’t have good receiving options, a fall is coming.
The Spurrier era was defined by its quarterbacks, yes, but also a series of terrific wide receivers. Ron Zook continued the tradition, but things began to wane after a couple of years in the Meyer era.
Urban did well early, netting Louis Murphy and David Nelson in 2005 and Percy Harvin and Riley Cooper in 2006. After them, though, the best receivers he signed were Deonte Thompson in 2007 and Quinton Dunbar in 2010. Fine players both, and Dunbar later would made himself a six-year NFL career at corner.
However, part of the offensive struggles of the Will Muschamp era came from Meyer not finding any more real stars after 2006 and Muschamp himself mismanaging the recruiting at the position. He loaded up with five wideouts in 2013 to try to compensate, but just one of them, Demarcus Robinson, had a standout career.
Jim McElwain replenished the ranks with quality to set the stage for Dan Mullen, though only Antonio Callaway really shined for McElwain himself. Mullen and staff helped the holdovers blossom, but he surprisingly didn’t manage the position recruiting-wise all that well. He stocked the group with mostly big dudes who weren’t all the fastest guys and only signed one true slot receiver in four years (Dionte Marks, who would later transfer to UCF).
So, Billy Napier had some work to do with that position grouping upon arrival. Fortunately for the 2023 Gator offense, the results have improved things in a hurry.
Napier only signed one high school receiver in his transitional class. That one was Caleb Douglas, who came on strong late last season as opportunities presented themselves. He’s been a standout performer in fall camp, consistently impressing with his speed, footwork, and route running. There are questions about his hands, but he only played two seasons as a receiver in high school. He’s working on it, and the 11 pounds of weight he put on in the offseason should help him absorb hits from defenders better than a year ago.
The more immediately important addition was getting Ricky Pearsall from the transfer portal over the summer. Napier identified, targeted, and landed a guy who will be the team’s best receiver for two years running. It reportedly was a close call, but Pearsall chose to put off the NFL Draft for one more year. Everything we’ve seen in spring and fall practice suggests he’s going to improve his stock with his growth as a player.
An earlier summer addition was Thai Chiaokhiao-Bowman from the JUCO ranks. He has speed but needed refinement, and he should be a mainstay in the rotation and on special teams this year.
And then came the 2023 recruiting class. No one from it has played a live snap of college football yet, but the excitement has been only growing since signing day.
Andy Jean and Aidan Mizell were early enrollees and immediately turned heads in spring practice. Mizell is a burner who will probably be mainly a deep threat early on in his career. Jean has a more polished all-around game and provided versatility that the position lacked outside of Pearsall.
Eugene Wilson might end up the best of all three. He has a special combination of speed and elusiveness that makes him a prime threat from the slot. Napier has praised Wilson at times during preseason camp, and everyone covering the team has been effusive. And any time he can be on the field as the slot guy, it’ll let Pearsall expand his game by moving outside and making defenses have to worry about more things at once.
There are plenty of players who look great in practice but can’t fulfill their promise on game day. Any one of those three might yet fall prey to that pattern, but right now they all look capable of contributing right away.
The starting lineup out wide is likely to be all veterans with the likes of Pearsall, Douglas, and someone like Marcus Burke or Ja’Quavion Fraziars. That’s still two of three starting positions consisting of Napier-era players. Chiaokhiao-Bowman and the three freshmen will get plenty of run too, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone if Wilson is the official primary slot option sooner than later.
The 2023 grouping will be the fastest set since 2020 when Kadarius Toney, Trevon Grimes, and Jacob Copeland were the top three receivers. It’s a welcome change. There’s a place for Mullen’s preferred kind of recruits like Burke and Fraziars, but that place isn’t “in every single chair in the receiver room”.
Napier has filled out the wideout position with the variety necessary to run more of his offense than we saw in 2022. There will necessarily be some growing pains as young players find their way, but the wide receiver bust rate so far, relative to expectations and with the information we have available to us, appears to be zero percent. If that rate holds, it’ll be the most impressive early piece to Napier’s overhaul of the program.