I’m glad that everyone seems to have decided to move past the Jaden Rashada situation quickly. You can always find people sniping at one another on social media if you look for it, but from what I can see, Gator fans have mostly already moved on.
I hope it ends up a big learning experience for everyone, since it reeks of, let’s say inexperience. That’s probably the nicest word you can put on it. Rashada isn’t a sure-thing prospect despite his rating. There are one or two quarterbacks, maybe three, in a given year who fit that description, and Rashada is the seventh-best signal caller in the 247 Composite.
Besides, Rashada needs to put on significant bulk to keep from getting snapped in half the first time an SEC edge rusher sacks him. He’s listed at 6’4″ and 175 pounds. UF has a 5’9″ walk on punter who’s 171 pounds, and he doesn’t exactly look thick. If a prospect can’t start in Year 1, and probably no big-time school is going to want Rashada to, then you don’t offer a contract for up to $13 million to him no matter how many years it’s spread over and how much heavy lifting “up to” is doing.
There is the matter of getting a fourth scholarship quarterback on the roster. Billy Napier said he wants to have four plus a preferred walk on, but they only have three scholarship guys.
I think it’s worth noting that Napier didn’t immediately go out and fill that fourth spot at all costs. He and his staff took a run at former LSU QB Walker Howard, but he was a borderline 4/5-star prospect in the 2022 cycle from Lafayette, Louisiana. It would’ve made perfect sense had he chosen Florida instead of Ole Miss. I don’t follow recruiting closely enough to know the story of why he’s now in Oxford, but the point is it wouldn’t have been a panic move.
So far I don’t see Napier making any panic moves with the roster. The class he has signed this cycle took a ratings hit when it lost Rashada and added high 3-star OT Caden Jones, but it’s still made up of 17 guys with a 4-star rating and just three guys with a 3-star rating. All three of the 3-stars are offensive linemen, which is a fine position to take lower rated players. Ratings on O-linemen are notoriously tough to create, and Napier’s current OL assistants made a habit of creating NFL prospects out of the dudes signed at Louisiana.
Just after the new year, I made a rundown of where Florida sat in relation to transfers. At the time, UF had only landed four incoming transfers: Louisville DL Caleb Banks, Wisconsin QB Graham Mertz, Ohio State LB Teradja Mitchell, and Memphis DT CamRon Jackson. At the time, Mertz felt like a bit of a stretch. Now, he’s the only thing between Florida and having two scholarship passers — one of whom intends to spend much of the spring with the baseball team.
I still would’ve 100% preferred a better take than Mertz behind center, but his official position coach is (checks notes) Billy Napier. That’s a prove-it decision, but no less than the head coach himself has the task of proving it. There’s no question of where the credit, good or bad, will go for that one.
Anyway, I identified areas of need in that piece earlier this month. UF addressed many of them in the time since.
I highlighted the need for replacements for Ethan White and Michael Tarquin. The Gators got those in OG Micah Mazzccua from Baylor and OT Damieon George from Alabama. Both are favorites for starting spots, and the former is a lock to start unless he gets injured.
I said they needed a fourth running back for depth purposes. They just got one yesterday in Tulane’s Cameron Carroll. He won’t push Montrell Johnson or Trevor Etienne, but he doesn’t have to.
I said more at linebacker would be good. They got short-term help with Houston’s Mannie Nunnery (two years of eligibility left) and longer term help with Michigan’s Deuce Spurlock (four years after redshirting in 2022). Nunnery is also a special teams standout, which is something the Gators most definitely need.
That’s five additional players to bring the total transfer count up to nine. There could be a tenth soon with Kentucky OL Kiyaunta Goodwin having recently visited. I don’t know if he’ll end up in Gainesville or not, but it’d be another big pickup at a place of need.
Not every roster hole has been filled. You can never have too many quality players on either line. Safety is looking rather green. Wide receiver could use another Ricky Pearsall-like pickup despite Pearsall himself recently choosing to return.
However, all of these pickups serve an obvious purpose. You don’t see Napier reaching for a project at a position that doesn’t really need greater numbers like when Dan Mullen took Jordan Pouncey (I realize other things may have been going on there given his cousins and brother). You also don’t see him pulling a guy who obviously is a poor fit for the scheme like when Jim McElwain brought in Malik Zaire.
And because he’s not just taking anyone — both in high school recruiting and from the portal — there are still spots left to be had for this year. He can work the portal further after spring practice is done to supplement where it makes sense. He might also turn to the late JUCO market where last year he landed WR Thai Chiaokhiao-Bowman and OL Jordan Herman. The former played a decent amount last fall, and the latter is a guy Alabama legitimately wanted.
There is no sugar coating how bad the Rashada situation was, from how it makes the program look to the doubts that probably are starting to spread about Florida’s NIL program to the lurch the roster is in for not having a quarterback in the 2022 class. The offense could look ugly this fall with a pair of guys who aren’t running threats behind center (barring a miracle transfer later.
But quarterback aside, the roster holes are getting filled. If you trust Napier’s eye for talent — and last year’s freshmen and transfers should’ve built a lot of trust for you — then the prospects for the season are looking better than they did a month ago.