The new faces in the wide receiver room have been the talk of fall camp, but there’s returning players looking to make a name for themselves in 2025.
Redshirt sophomore Aidan Mizell, a four-star receiver out of Orlando, Florida, was known for his track speed on the football field out of high school.
Mizell was a state qualifier in both the 100 and 400-meter dashes as a junior, owning personal bests of 10.65 in the 100 and 46.99 in the 400. Mizell’s mother, Ebony Robinson, was an All-American sprinter at UF while his father, Wil Mizell, was a decathlete.
That speed and athleticism is exactly what you saw on his film. But Mizell wasn’t exactly ‘college ready’ coming out of Boone High School. Mizell didn’t start playing wide receiver until high school and only spent two years prior playing tackle football, where he was a quarterback during his middle school years. It didn’t help that Mizell was injured on the first play of his senior season and ruled out for the year.
While his tape displayed elite breakaway speed and make you miss ability, there wasn’t much there from a route running or separation standpoint.
Mizell stepped foot in Gainesville for his first spring semester having not played football since his junior year playoff games.
“I feel like just some people just come in more ready than others. I feel like I got hurt my senior year, didn’t play much football,” Mizell said. “I didn’t play receiver in middle school. I wasn’t allowed to play football, so like high school, I got there, it was just slow, slow, slow learner, I guess. For sure, it’s a process. And I just feel like everyone just has their own process, and everyone’s different. But it’s all going to work out.”
Mizell hardly played his freshman year as a result, logging two receptions for 25 yards in two appearances.
In 2024, we caught a glimpse of what the speedy wide receiver is capable of. Mizell caught 17 receptions for 202 yards and two touchdowns across 258 snaps. What’s not included in that stat line is one of the best individual plays we’ve seen in three years under Billy Napier.
Against Mississippi State, Mizell turned a five-yard hitch into a 65-yard touchdown, which was wrongfully called back for a blindside block by running back Montrell Johnson Jr. Still, it was an unbelievable play as Mizell went sideline to sideline, making seven or so defenders miss in the process before trotting in the endzone.
“It is what it is,” Mizell said on the play being called back. “I feel like y’all have seen what I can do. It’s on tape. It is what it is.”
Mizell and sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway have a special connection, and that stems from their relationship off the field.
“We’ll call each other, text each other. On the field, we’re both competitors. If I’m messing up, he’s gonna say something, if he’s messing up, I’m gonna say something. We just try to work and make each other better,” Mizell said on his relationship with Lagway.
Mizell and Lagway have had plenty of reps together dating back to Lagway’s first spring semester in 2024.
“DJ was running with the twos a lot with me. So like that spring ball, that’s all we was doing, just throwing and catching, you know what I mean? As the season went on and stuff happened how it did, he started starting, I started starting, just carried on.”
It did carry on. Both of Mizell’s career touchdowns were long passes from Lagway. The first being a 41-yard strike vs Samford and the second a 43-yard touchdown vs Georgia.
One of the biggest question marks entering the season is how the wide receiver rotation will shake out. Florida has 12 scholarship receivers, four of which are talented freshman pushing for early playing time.
“It’s a real competitive group, it’s a lot of good receivers but I feel like that pushes us to be better. There’s no ego, no animosity between group, we all just trying to be the best.”
Mizell is eying a larger role in 2025 after steady growth and detailed improvements this offseason.
“I’ve gotten better at my top of the route, route running, every little nook and cranny,” Mizell said. “I just feel like my game recognition and everything like that. I feel like on the field I’m looking at stuff I wasn’t looking at before, I’m understanding stuff I wasn’t understanding before.”
Mizell has flown under the radar through two years at UF, but that could change in 2025 as the third-year receiver appears ready to make a big impact.
“If you’re still sleeping on me, that’s on y’all. I’ll show what I can do this year and move forward.”