Breakdown of the Florida Gators scholarship count

With the news last week that the University of Florida will begin bringing student-athletes back to campus, beginning with football players in June it’s time we start taking a look at the Gators’ and what they will look like in 2020.

Over the next week, Gator Country will be breaking down each position, going over players and the depth that Florida has across the board but, first, we’ll take a look at the entire roster, where the Gators sit in terms of scholarship numbers, where they’re deep and where they need some help.

Florida is sitting at 86 scholarship players right now, one over the limit, but that can be taken care of by taking one player off of scholarship who was given one last year after previously walking on. It will be the first time in Dan Mullen’s tenure where his team will be at the 85-man roster limit heading into the season.

The breakdown of the roster is as follows:

By Class:
Senior: 19
Junior: 14
Sophomore: 18
Redshirt freshmen: 12
Freshmen: 23

By Position:
Quarterback: 3
Running back: 5
Receiver: 12
Tight End: 5
Offensive Tackle: 6
Offensive Guard: 7
Center: 3
Defensive Tackle: 8
Defensive End: 4
Buck/Rush End: 7
Linebacker: 7
Cornerback: 9
Safety: 8
Kicker: 1
Punter: 1

Areas of need in recruiting: Offensive line, safety
The Gators have 16 offensive linemen and that’s a sweet spot for Dan Mullen. The head coach has previously said he wants 16-18 on the roster, so he’s good for 2020 but Florida has five offensive linemen set to graduate after this season. The Gators have four offensive linemen committed as of publishing, so the coaching staff will likely be looking to add at least one more offensive lineman this cycle.
At safety the Gators will lose a lot after the 2020 season. Quincy Lenton, Donovan Stiner, Shawn Davis and Brad Stewart will be entering their final seasons. The Gators are adding three in the 2020 class, but will need to focus in on adding a backend player in the secondary this recruiting cycle. It’s imperative moving forward.

A couple of questions regarding roster management
Senior offensive lineman Tanner Rowell was awarded a scholarship right before the 2019 season. Florida had the opportunity to do that because they were under the 85-man roster limit, however, that isn’t the case heading into 2020, so Rowell’s scholarship might be a causality due to numbers.

Both Lorenzo Lingard and Justin Shorter will need to apply for a transfer waiver to be immediately eligible. Both players, if eligible, would be able to make an impact immediately. Whether they are eligible seems to be a coin flip based on the NCAA’s history with handing out waivers to transfers, which is unfortunate for both the players and the schools.

Here is a complete breakdown of the Gators roster

Redshirt Senior
QB Kyle Trask
WR Rick Wells
OT Stone Forsythe
OT Jean Delance
C Brett Heggie
OG/C Stewart Reese (Grad transfer)
C Tanner Rowell (former walk on)
DT Marlon Dunlap
Buck/Rush Jeremiah Moon
CB CJ McWilliams
S Quincy Lenton

Senior
WR Kadarius Toney
WR Trevon Grimes
DT TJ Slaton
DT Elijah Conliffe (Missed 2019 with injury, could apply for medical redshirt)
DT Kyree Campbell
S Shawn Davis
S Donovan Stiner
S Brad Stewart

Redshirt Junior
RB Malik Davis
WR Jordan Pouncey (Grad transfer)
TE Kemore Gamble
OG T.J. Moore
DE Zach Carter
LB James Houston
LB Ventrell Miller
LB Lacedrick Brunson
CB Marco Wilson

Junior
RB Dameon Pierce
TE Kyle Pitts
LB Amari Burney
CB Trey Dean
K Evan McPherson

Redshirt Sophomore
QB Emory Jones
RB Iverson Clement
RB Lorenzo Lingard (Ineligible in 2020 without transfer waiver)
WR Jacob Copeland
WR Justin Shorter (Ineligible in 2020 without transfer waiver)
TE Dante Lang
OT Richard Gouraige
C Griffin McDowell
DE Andrew Chatfield
Buck/Rush Brenton Cox
Buck/Rush David Reese

Sophomore
TE Keon Zipperer
OG Ethan White
Buck/Rush Mohamoud Diabate
Buck/Rush Kris Bogle
CB Kaiir Elam
CB Jaydon Hill
CB Chester Kimbrough

Redshirt Freshmen
RB Nay’Quan Wright
WR Ja’markis Weston
WR Dionte Marks
WR Trent Whittemore
OT Michael Tarquin
OG Riley Simonds
OG William Harrod
C Kingsley Eguakun
DT Jaelin Humphries
Buck/Rush Lloyd Summerall
LB Ty’Ron Hopper
LB Jesiah Pierre

Freshmen
QB Anthony Richardson
WR Jaquavion Fraziars
WR Leonard Manuel
WR Xzavier Henderson
TE Jonathan Odom
OT Gerald Mincey
OT Josh Braun
OG Richard Leonard
DT Gervon Dexter
DT Lamar Goods
DT Jalen Lee
DE Johnnie Brown
DE Princley Umanmielen
Buck/Rush Antwaun Powell
Buck/Rush Derek Wingo
CB Fenley Graham
CB Avery Helm
CB Jahari Rogers
CB Ethan Pouncey
S Rashad Torrence II
S Tre’Vez Johnson
S Mordecai McDaniel
P Jeremy Crawshaw