With the transfer portal officially open and players looking for new homes, the University of Florida is one of the most intriguing teams in college football’s “free agency,” according to ESPN.
The worldwide leader in sports asked its staff what the biggest remaining questions are during portal season, and Florida came up a few times. First, Florida is one of about two dozen teams vying for former Rhode Island offensive lineman [autotag]Ajani Cornelius[/autotag]. The Gators have to be an attractive landing spot for any lineman looking to prove himself in the Power Five considering the success [autotag]O’Cyrus Torrence[/autotag] had after following Billy Napier over from Louisiana. With two years of eligibility left, Cornelius and Florida might be a match made in heaven, but it will take some serious recruiting to make the pairing official.
The other big question asked by ESPN contributors regarding UF is which quarterback the Gators will target in the portal. Florida is pegged as the “SEC contender with the most work to do in the portal,” and a lot of that has to do with the departure of [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag]. Florida is also losing over a dozen players to the portal itself, so it only makes sense that they predicted the Gators to be one of the more active teams in the portal.
The answer under center isn’t as simple as one might think, though. [autotag]Jack Miller III[/autotag] is in line for his first career start in the Las Vegas Bowl and that will almost certainly serve as an audition for next year. There’s also [autotag]Jaden Rashada[/autotag] who is coming in as a true freshman next year, but there’s always some fear in having a freshman as the lone backup. That means Florida needs to target a quarterback with starting potential but also one that allows those other two to compete for reps.
Enter [autotag]Jeff Sims[/autotag], Georgia Tech’s dual-threat quarterback who “flashed big-play ability and could benefit from a fresh start.” Craig Haubert posited the idea of Sims to the Gators, and it seems like a decent fit. Sims would have “tempered expectations compared to some other transfer quarterbacks,” and would likely allow a good battle at the position to take place over the spring and summer. Alex Scarborough agreed with Haubert that Sims would be a “great fit in Napier’s offense.”
It certainly sounds like adding Sims would provide the perfect stop-gap between Richardson and Rashada, and Florida’s future at the position is already bright with the commitment of five-star 2024 commit [autotag]DJ Lagway[/autotag].
There are a lot of moving pieces to consider when making any sort of transfer portal predictions, but it feels pretty safe to say that Florida will be one of the more active teams this season starting at the highest-profile position on the field.
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