Revisiting Billy Napier’s 2022 Recruiting Class at Florida

It’s hard to believe that Billy Napier somehow just signed his fourth recruiting class at Florida. Or maybe, it’s hard to believe it’s only his fourth. Maybe I’m getting old or my brain has gone to Jell-O from having two young kids, but time stretches and bends like taffy for me these days.

Anyway, we won’t know for a few years how things will turn out for the new group of 2025 Gators. It may not even be the entire group yet, since at least one player the staff would like to pick up did not choose a school yesterday. The 2024 class closed up shop on early signing day, but this one still has the door cracked open for a player or two.

We can take a glance back at Napier’s first class, however, to see how things have panned out for Napier signees in something like a long run. I’m only talking about the traditional high school and JUCO signees, not transfers. Yes, the portal and free transfer era means it’s more complicated than it used to be to discuss how much overall talent a team brings in over the offseason. However, recruiting high school and JUCO is not the same thing as portal recruiting, and there still is value in keeping those skills separate.

Quarterback

Hits: None
Still Developing: None
Transfer: Max Brown

The 2022 season was always going to be Anthony Richardson’s show, but the team needed depth. Brown, a flip from Jim McElwain’s Central Michigan, was a project intended to sit behind Richardson, that year’s transfer pickup Jack Miller, and Jalen Kitna.

But then Miller could never stay healthy, and Kitna was dismissed from the team late in the ’22 season. Brown became the backup who played in the injured Graham Mertz’s stead late in 2023, and he performed admirably. He then transferred to Charlotte, where he started briefly before losing the job to a freshman.

Running Back

Hits: None
Still Developing: None
Transfer: Trevor Etienne

Etienne had plenty of highlight plays as a Gator, but in his words, “I could stay, be running back two on a losing team or go somewhere and you know, possibly [be] running back one and win a natty.” So, he transferred to Georgia.

Both sides got something they wanted. Florida got Jadan Baugh in the ’24 class, who essentially replicated Etienne’s output in Athens. Etienne got to be on a playoff team, though it’s unclear when he’ll return from injury.

Wide Receiver

Hits: None
Still Developing: None
Transfers: Caleb Douglas, Thai Chiaokhiao-Bowman

Douglas had a hard time staying healthy in Gainesville, but maybe the therapeutic mud rains of Lubbock helped him have a nice year at Texas Tech. Chiaokhiao-Bowman was a summertime JUCO pickup who got some spot duty and special teams work. He battled injury both in 2023 at Florida and in 2024 at Rice.

Tight End

Hit: Hayden Hansen
Still Developing: Tony Livingston
Transfer: Arlis Boardingham

(Author’s note: at time of publish, Boardingham had not yet announced his decision to enter the transfer portal. The original text is below.)

Napier had to load up on tight ends in his transitional class to help get the numbers right at the position in the future. Boardingham was a freshman All-American last year, though his receiving output fell this year. Hansen is a rugged blocker who is good for about one catch a game that somehow goes for decent yardage despite him not being fleet of foot. Livingston hasn’t come along as quickly as the other two did, but he did get his first career touchdown last weekend at Florida State.

Offensive Line

Hits: None
Still Developing: Christian Williams
Transfers: Jalen Farmer, David Conner, Jordan Herman

Part of why UF has had to go to the portal the past couple years and will need to again is that little has come through from this class. Williams, the sole remaining player, played eight total snaps in two games according to his roster page.

Farmer played in four games for Kentucky this year. Conner, a lightly rated prospect who had committed to Dan Mullen, redshirted before transferring to Colorado last year and Texas State this year. Herman was a summer JUCO addition like Chiaokhiao-Bowman. He played little at UF before transferring to Charlotte last winter. He played regularly as a reserve but announced his intention to enter the portal again in November.

Defensive Line

Hits: None
Still Developing: Jamari Lyons
Transfers: Chris McClellan

Lyons was going to be a regular rotation guy after appearing in every contest in 2023, but he missed the season after a broken ankle in fall camp. McClellan made the unusual move of committing to UF after Mullen’s firing but before Napier’s hire. He played a lot for two seasons before transferring to become one of Missouri’s best TFL guys.

Edge

Hits: Jack Pyburn
Still Developing: None
Transfers: Andrew Savaiinaea

Pyburn ascending to the starting job was one of the catalysts to 2024’s mid-season defensive turnaround. His incredibly high motor made him a fixture in the defensive unit.

Savaiinaea switched to tight end in his first year — he played both tight end and defensive line in high school — but he was buried on the depth chart after starting his college career at edge/outside linebacker. He played in all 12 games for Nevada this season, starting five.

Linebacker

Hits: Shemar James
Still Developing: None
Transfers: None

James committed to Mullen, decommitted, and then committed again to Napier. He’s been one of the best one or two linebackers on the team since he arrived.

Defensive Back

Hits: Devin Moore
Still Developing: None
Transfers: Kamari Wilson, Miguel Mitchell

Moore, when healthy, is a strong entry in Florida’s long line of quality cornerbacks. Unfortunately, “when healthy” doesn’t happen near as often as anyone would like.

Wilson was the jewel of the ’22 class on signing day, breaking Florida’s IMG Academy curse and giving Napier his first 5-star signee. He appeared in every game as a true freshman, but his playing time evaporated midway through 2023. He’ll be playing this weekend as a reserve for Arizona State in the Big 12 Championship Game. Mitchell’s quality of play was very up-and-down, and he landed at Arkansas after leaving. He missed the first month-and-a-half of this season to injury.

Specialists

Hits: Trey Smack
Still Developing: None
Transfers: None

It took Smack longer than expected to win the kicking job, but he did last season. Generally reliable at 14-for-17 on the year so far, he has unfortunately had a few high-profile misses in high-pressure situations in his career.

In Summary

There are 20 players listed above. More than half (11) have transferred. So it goes in today’s game. Three are still developing, while six have hit as players and are still in Gainesville.

Transitional classes have always faced high levels of attrition, so I’m not sure how this rate of transfers compares to past instances as a general rule. I can note that Mullen’s transitional class had the same number of 20 players, and 12 of them either transferred or medically retired early. That’s a full accounting though; far fewer than 12 were gone before three seasons were up. That’s how much things have really changed.

Regardless, the ’22 class did provide some important help at positions that would’ve been in a world of hurt without their signees like linebacker and tight end. And, like I said above, Pyburn was a critical player to the defensive renaissance. Though small to begin with and smaller now, the ’22 class is not gone and forgotten. It still has more chapters left to write.