Sophomore receiver Tre Wilson is quickly becoming the face of Florida’s program under head coach Billy Napier. In 2023, Wilson hauled in 61 catches for 538 yards and a team-high six touchdowns, earning freshman All-SEC and All-American honors for his efforts in Orange and Blue last season. The Tampa, Florida native played in 10 games including seven starts, ranking T-29th in the FBS in receptions per game at 6.1, which was the most on the Gators.
Keep in mind that Wilson was a summer enrollee last season, which means he missed out on spring camp in year one but was still able to make an immediate impact at the collegiate level. After going through his first spring semester this offseason, Wilson feels like the game slowed down for him, resulting in a higher level of comfortability within Florida’s offense.
“I feel like these few months in the spring most definitely have been beneficial to me,” Wilson said on his first spring camp. “I wouldn’t say I missed out last year on, but it most definitely is something I could have added on. Can’t really change the past, so we’re going to go forward from here.”
“It just lets me play a little bit more my game, you know, being able to play a lot more comfortable, a lot more my speed. Not really on other people’s timing,” Wilson said on understanding the offense better.
To nobody’s surprise, Florida’s offensive staff plans on targeting Wilson early and often in 2024.
“We’re always going to be intentional about who we get the ball to, Tre Wilson being at the top of that list for sure,” Napier said at the start of fall camp. “We’re going to get our money’s worth out of Tre Wilson. I can promise you that.”
Florida’s staff did a good job of getting their best players the ball in 2023 as Ricky Pearsall and Tre Wilson ranked both ranked in the top 50 in receptions per game, one of just seven programs who accomplished that feat last season.
“We do a really good job, and we’ve done it in the spring, of tracking real time how many times Tre’s touched it, how many times the running backs touched it, the other receivers, so forth, and so on,” Co-offensive coordinator Russ Callaway said on Tuesday.
The 5’10, 183-pound receiver added 13 pounds in a one-year span, which he believes will make him more explosive off the line of scrimmage.
“I took my time with it,” Wilson said on his offseason gains. “Our strength staff got me in real good shape, and I got some good time in there.”
The Gators are loaded with talent at the receiver position, including Tre Wilson, Chimere Dike, and Elijhah Badger, who ranked one spot behind Wilson in receptions per game last season. There’s no doubt that Florida has mouths to feed, but Wilson will get the opportunity to breakout in 2024 with the goal of eclipsing the 1,000-yard receiving mark, which no Gators’ receiver has accomplished since Taylor Jacobs did it in 2002.
Tre Wilson enters the 2024 season as Florida’s top weapon on offense and has the ability to make an impact in both the run and pass game.