Tag: Elijhah Badger

Next up in Gators Wire’s annual position preview series are the wide receivers, and the 18-man position room might be one of the most interesting at the University of Florida heading into 2024.

The big question is which pass catcher will step into first-round pick Ricky Pearsall‘s shoes as the top option for Graham Mertz. Billy Napier brought in two transfers to fill out the top of the depth chart, but it’s sophomore Eugene Wilson III who has played the most snaps under Napier.

There’s also plenty of room for competition when it comes to the second and third strings. Several young players are looking to get on the field and find their role on the team.

Here’s a look at each of the receivers on Florida’s roster.

Top option: No. 3 Eugene Wilson III (So.)

Year	GP	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	Long	AVG/G
2023	10	61	583	8.8	6	30	53.8

Wilson is Florida’s top returning receiver on the depth chart and should receive the most targets of anyone in the position room. He broke out in the second half of the season, ending 2023 with a team-high 6.1 receptions per game.

He split time between the slot (200 snaps) and lining up out wide last season (235 snaps). Wilson is a do-everything kind of player and Billy Napier will draw up a few plays to exploit his skill set. There’s quickness and speed here. Wilson has a chance to be one of the SEC’s best, but he’ll have to beat most teams’ top defensive back now that he’s WR1.

Second option: No. 6 Elijhah Badger (R-Sr.)

“He is explosive, he is athletic, he can run after the catch, he has a vertical threat to his game and he’s got play strength and he’s got length,” Napier said. “He’s a 6-1 guy but he’s got great great length.”

Starting Slot: No. 17 Chimere Dike (Sr.)

Year	GP	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	Long	AVG/G
2020*	7	12	189	15.8	1	0	27.0
2021*	13	19	272	14.3	1	9	20.9
2022*	13	47	689	14.7	6	12	62.6
2023*	11	19	328	17.3	1	30	29.8
Total	44	97	1,478	15.2	9	30

* = while at Wisconsin

Rounding out that group of starting receivers is Wisconsin transfer [autotag]Chimere Dike[/autotag]. Mertz already has a connection with Dike from their time together as Badgers, but now both are in the prime of their college careers.

Dike’s most productive year with Wisconsin came with Mertz at quarterback in 2022, and it’s easy to see why he followed his former teammate after regressing in production last season. There’s a level of familiarity between the two that’s hard to recreate.

“The good thing about football is even in different offenses, a lot of the concepts have carryover, a lot of similar routes are ran. So, there’ll be a new concept (Florida’s) running that it feels exactly like one that we’ve ran on 100 times before, so I’m definitely fortunate to have that. Obviously, he’s continued to get better as a player and I’m excited to be here and be able to work.”

Second String: No. 11 Aidan Mizell (R-Fr.), No. 14 Andy Jean (R-Fr.) and No. 22 Kahleil Jackson (R-Jr.)

Here’s where the competition begins, according to Napier.

The second and third-string units inside the receivers room should be fluid throughout the season. Napier likes to play guys who are earning snaps, and he’s repeated several times through fall camp that this is one of the most competitive position groups in Gainesville.

Redshirt freshmen [autotag]Andy Jean[/autotag] and [autotag]Aidan Mizell[/autotag] are the two breakout candidates here. Neither played much last season. Jean only appeared in four games — catching six passes for 97 yards — as injuries kept him sidelined. The good news is he was able to redshirt and retain a year of eligibility.

The same goes for Mizell, who appeared in just two games last season. Mizell missed much of his senior year of high school with an injury, so he was always likely to redshirt last season. A true speedster, Mizell has a chance to become a serious deep threat for Florida. He can burn most cornerbacks and planned to run track at the university at one point.

Then there’s redshirt junior [autotag]Kahleil Jackson[/autotag], who reeled in 21 receptions for 251 yards. A former walk-on who was added to the scholarship roster in 2022, Jackson made several highlight-worthy plays last season for Florida. It’s hard to tell if the young guys will pass him by, especially with transfers moving ahead of him on the depth chart, but Jackson should be a frequent face on the offense early on in the year.

Reserves: No. 0 Ja’Quavion Fraziars (Sr.), No. 30 Taylor Spierto (R-Jr.) and Marcus Burke (R-Jr.)

Next up are the reserves, who are likely to fit into that third-string role with some flexibility to move both ways on the depth chart.

[autotag]Ja’Quavion Fraziars[/autotag] and [autotag]Marcus Burke[/autotag] are the two tallest receivers on the team. The Gators have more speed than size at receiver, so both can earn snaps out wide if they prove useful.

Fraziars has hauled in 15 receptions for 143 yards and three touchdowns over four years at Florida, and Burke is at 12 catches for 201 yards over three seasons. A good year for both would be doubling that production, but that’s far from guaranteed.

Then, there’s Taylor Spierto, another walk-on who earned a scholarship last year. He’s most a special teams guy, but he did catch two balls for 17 yards last year.

These three are the rare remnants from the Dan Mullen era in the position room, but they wouldn’t be in Gainesville if they weren’t bought in on Napier. Hopefully, he’ll give them chances to shine, knowing that all three are likely to move on after this season.

Freshmen: No. 4 TJ Abrams (Fr.) and No. 10 Tank Hawkins

[autotag]TJ Abrams[/autotag] and [autotag]Tank Hawkins[/autotag] are both true freshmen, but they could end up ahead of the three reserves on the depth chart by season’s end.

Hawkins is the one standing out early. He scored twice during Florida’s first scrimmage and he has verified track speed.

“(Hawkins) got here in January. He’s had a great offseason,” Napier said. “He’s definitely playing faster. His skill level is improving. He’s getting comfortable. Like we’ve talked about before, we kind of have those top three and then you got this group that’s competing. He’s in that group.”

Abrams has a “running back build”, according to Napier, but he’s firmly in the group of receivers competing for a spot in the rotation this year.

In truth, both of these guys probably belong above the reserves on our list, but age over beauty and all that, right?

Walk-Ons

Believe it or not, Florida has seven walk-on receivers on its roster this season.

The oldest of the bunch are redshirt sophomores Alex Gonzalez and Zak Sedaros. Gonzalez joined the team as a preferred walk-on in the summer of 2022 after an in-state prep career at Lehigh Senior near Fort Myers. Sedaros also joined the Gators in the summer of 2022, but without the “preferred” tag. He is also a member of the track and field team at Florida.

Next up are the redshirt freshmen, Jaden Edgecomb, Brian Green Jr. and Jackson Wade. Both Green and Wade joined the program as preferred walk-ons last summer and redshirted after making zero appearances. Wade played high school ball at North Paulding in Georgia, and Green comes from Orange Park near the Jacksonville area.

Edgecomb was selected by Billy Napier for the Louis Oliver Outstanding non-Scholarship Player Award from the Black Student-Athlete Community.

There isn’t much hope for playing time for the four listed above, but the final two walk-ons in Florida’s receiver room are all new to the program so there’s very little chance they see the field this season.

David Schmidt is a local kid from Newberry High. He was an all-state receiver his junior year and a special teams MVP in 2023. The reason for so many walk-ons is to provide depth at multiple positions during practice. Schmidt fills that role nicely.

DeBraun Hampton played high school ball with [autotag]DJ Lagway[/autotag], so there’s always a chance he blossoms over the next few years.

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