Tag: Max Brown

2023 Baseball Season Preview: Outfielders

Wyatt Langford is not just the guy to watch on the Gators this season, he’s one of the best college baseball has to offer. But what about the rest of Florida’s outfield?

Florida’s outfield returns two starters after losing [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag] and [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] to the MLB draft, but one of them is [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag], who should be a top-five pick in this year’s draft.

Langford rose to stardom a year ago after hitting 36 home runs and tying the school’s season record. He hit leadoff and in the middle of Florida’s lineup throughout the season, finishing the season as one of the best in college baseball. This year, he’ll be the guy the rest of the SEC is planning for, so there won’t be any doubt about him when the draft rolls around.

Alongside Langford are presumed starters [autotag]Michael Robertson[/autotag] and [autotag]Ty Evans[/autotag] in center field and right field, respectively. Robertson sat out all of last year with an injury, but he should bring elite speed to the team in 2023. Evans took over in right field at the end of last year once Thompson moved to second base, so he should start the season off there again.

Steve Spurrier comments on Florida’s 2023 quarterback situation

Spurrier commented on the Florida Gators’ QB room heading into 2023.

If there’s one person whose opinion on the Florida Gators quarterback situation holds weight, it’s Steve Spurrier’s.

On a recent episode of The Tailgate, the Head Ball Coach brought up a conversation he had with Shane Matthews, one of Spurrier’s former quarterbacks when he coached the Orange and Blue back in the 1990s. In that conversation, Matthews asked the HBC what he thought of the Gators’ quarterbacks room. His response was one only the most important figure in Florida football history could give.

Here is what the HBC said about the Gators’ current quarterbacks room.

“I was talking to Shane and he said, ‘I’m not sure we have a great quarterback right now,’”

“I said, Shane, they told me that when I took the Florida job back in ’90. You gotta find somebody and coach the heck out of him.”

To provide some context, the Florida quarterbacks room could be confused for a carousel over the last few months. 2022 starter Anthony Richardson will not be returning after declaring for the 2023 NFL draft. [autotag]Jalen Kitna[/autotag] was arrested and dismissed from the team. That left former Ohio State quarterback [autotag]Jack Miller III[/autotag] to take the field for the Gators’ 30-3 Las Vegas Bowl loss to Oregon State.

[autotag]Jaden Rashada[/autotag], a five-star quarterback prospect from California, signed his letter of intent in December and was expected to arrive on campus after playing in the All-American Bowl in Orlando. After he did not arrive on campus, a national saga played out with a reported $13 million name, image, and likeness deal that fell through at the center. He was released from his letter of intent in January and has since enrolled at Arizona State.

Add in Wisconsin transfer [autotag]Graham Mertz[/autotag], and the Gators went from a quarterbacks room with a projected first-rounder and five-star prospect, to two former transfers and [autotag]Max Brown[/autotag], a former three-star prospect, as the only scholarship quarterbacks on the roster.

It seems like the Heisman Trophy winner and national championship-winning head coach is a believer in developing the talent you have on the roster. While head coach [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] is expected to add another quarterback to the roster via the transfer portal, Spurrier may get his wish for 2023.

Whoever is brought in from the portal, the 2023 starting job is expected to come down to Mertz and Miller, two players who will have all spring to earn the job.

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5-star QB commit could be a two-sport athlete for Florida

5-star quarterback DJ Lagway wants to continue his baseball career at Florida, but football will always come first.

Florida’s quarterback of the future, 2024 five-star Willis signal caller [autotag]DJ Lagway[/autotag], might also be a future baseball star for the Gators.

Schools recruited Lagway for both sports throughout high school. He picked up baseball offers from well-established programs such as LSU, Oklahoma and Texas A&M before committing to Florida for football, and the assumption is that he’ll end up playing for baseball head coach [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag]’s squad at some point.

During his most recent visit to the Swamp, Lagway followed up a day of football activities with a day at Condron Family Ballpark, according to Jacob Rudner of 247Sports. He got to check out the Gators’ practice and scrimmage before and even had a lengthy talk with Sully. The two speak often and are familiar with each other, but the plan right now is for Lagway to prioritize football before figuring out what his role on the baseball team might be.

His path to the diamond might be similar to freshman quarterback [autotag]Max Brown[/autotag]’s. He recently joined the baseball team this spring after missing fall practices to be with the football team. When spring practices start, football will again be the priority.

“We’ll see what it looks like after I get there but the way (Brown) did it could be how it works for me,” Lagway said.

Lagway wants to be a pitcher for Florida but also says that left field could be a spot for him depending on his arm. It’s unclear what Brown or Lagway’s role on O’Sullivan’s club will be when the time comes, but it’s clear that head football coach Billy Napier is willing to work with student-athletes that want to keep playing baseball.

Lagway is ranked at No. 24 overall on the 247Sports composite and is at No. 4 among quarterbacks in the class of 2024. Perfect Game has him ranked as the No. 312 overall outfielder in his class.

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Billy Napier open to boosting quarterback room this spring

We’re not sure who it will be and where he will come from, but the Gators are in need of some help in the quarterback room.

What was once a promising quarterback room in Gainesville has fallen like a house of cards over the past couple of months following the arrest of freshman [autotag]Jalen Kitna[/autotag] on child pornography charges, 2023 commit [autotag]Marcus Stokes[/autotag]’ rescinded scholarship offer after a video surfaced of him using a racial slur on social media, and the NIL fiasco that followed [autotag]Jaden Rashada[/autotag] saga.

Man, it has not been a fun time for the Gator Nation of late, especially with star quarterback [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag] heading into the NFL draft despite still being a bit wet behind the ears.

Now that the 2023 recruiting cycle is officially over, head coach [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] and his army of staffers are now turning their attention to the college football transfer portal in hopes of finding another scholarship quarterback to help add some depth to a thin corps. Essentially, there is a job opportunity open under center and the next month or two will serve as auditions for the part.

“I think if there’s an opportunity, there’s a player that passes evaluation,” Napier said according to Swamp247, “we certainly would be in the market for another player there.”

The Gators have already started the search for a new signal-caller, first checking in on former LSU Tigers QB Walker Howard, a former four-star prospect out of Lafayette (Louisiana) St. Thomas More in 2022 who was buried on the Tigers’ depth chart last season. However, 247Sports’ sources suggest that Florida has garnered very little interest from the young quarterback.

Also mentioned was former Washington quarterback Sam Huard, who was ranked No. 12 overall, No. 3 among quarterbacks and No. 249 among all prospects according to the 247Sports composite coming out of high school. However, the legacy football player chose California Polytechnic State instead.

The Gators currently have Wisconsin Badgers transfer [autotag]Graham Mertz[/autotag], [autotag]Jack Miller III[/autotag] (a former Ohio State Buckeyes transfer) and [autotag]Max Brown[/autotag] as the three scholarship passers on the roster. Time will tell if Napier and Co. can pull off the coup and bring another solid talent in to beef up the competition.

Wisconsin transfer QB officially joins Florida Gators

The Gators are officially welcoming former Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz to the team.

A few weeks ago, reports came in of Wisconsin quarterback [autotag]Graham Mertz[/autotag]’s transfer to the University of Florida. The school officially announced the move on Wednesday.

Mertz leaves the Badgers after three years starting under center for the program. He joined Wisconsin in 2019 and quickly took over as the starter during his second year with the team. During that time, Mertz totaled 5,405 yards, 38 touchdowns and 26 interceptions on 59.51% passing (460 completions on 773 attempts).

When Mertz joins the team in January, he’ll immediately enter a battle for the starting quarterback position with [autotag]Jack Miller III[/autotag], who started Florida’s bowl game against Oregon State. While Miller showed some promise in that game, it also became increasingly clear that Florida needed to add a quarterback with more starting experience. Behind those two will be redshirt freshman [autotag]Max Brown[/autotag] and true freshman [autotag]Jaden Rashada[/autotag], who will join the team at the same time and fight for reps.

Mertz’s 2021 performance left a lot to be desired with more interceptions (11) than touchdowns (10), but he bounced back last year with a 19-to-10 ratio. Florida is moving on from [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag], who didn’t have the best completion percentage or touchdown-to-turnover ratio, so Billy Napier knows what he’s getting himself into.

Unlike Richardson, Mertz is a pocket passer who doesn’t run too often. He finished his Wisconsin career with minus-21 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on 125 attempts.

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Gators add IMG Academy QB as preferred walk-on

Billy Napier said that Florida was looking to add another quarterback to the roster, and he found his man at none other than IMG Academy.

Florida added another member to its recruiting class of 2023, three-star IMG Academy quarterback [autotag]Parker Leise[/autotag], who will join the team as a preferred walk-on.

Leise announced his commitment to the university on Christmas Eve via social media. The news comes just days after the early signing period closed during which Florida head coach [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] indicated that the team would be seeking a fifth quarterback for the roster.

The Gators expect four scholarship quarterbacks to be on the roster next season: [autotag]Jack Miller III[/autotag], Wisconsin transfer [autotag]Graham Mertz[/autotag], redshirt freshman [autotag]Max Brown[/autotag] and true freshman [autotag]Jaden Rashada[/autotag]. Leise is a pro-style quarterback who likes to stay in the pocket, which is different from most of the quarterbacks Napier likes to bring in.

Leise held offers from Butler, Kansas, Miami (Ohio) and Toledo among others but chose to take the PWO path and stay in Florida. IMG Academy, of course, is in Bradenton, but Leise hails from Prairie Village, Kansas, so beating out the Jayhawks is significant.

Although Leise had an up-and-down year at IMG, he has the physical tools to be successful at the collegiate level. Standing at 6-foot-2-inches and 215 pounds, he has the size most coaches want at the signal caller position. He’ll spend time with the scout team in hopes of developing his game for the future.

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Florida a ‘serious contender’ for this top transfer portal QB

The Gators are considered “serious contenders” for Grayson McCall, one of the top transfer QBs available in the portal.

The Florida Gators are in the mix for former Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall, with On3’s Pete Nakos reporting Monday that the Orange and Blue are “serious contenders” for the transfer quarterback.

According to On3’s transfer portal rankings, McCall is the No. 4 quarterback in the portal and the No. 19 overall. He is behind recent Kentucky commit and former NC State quarterback Devin Leary (No. 1), former Virginia quarterback Brendan Armstrong (No. 2), and former Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders (No. 3).

Florida is in desperate need of reinforcements in its quarterback room. With [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag] declaring for the NFL draft and [autotag]Jalen Kitna[/autotag]’s dismissal from the football program, Florida is left with just two scholarship quarterbacks on the roster: [autotag]Jack Miller III[/autotag], who started the Las Vegas Bowl game (and was underwhelming in his Orange and Blue debut) and freshman [autotag]Max Brown[/autotag], a former three-star prospect from Tulsa, Oklahoma. [autotag]Jaden Rashada[/autotag], a top prospect in the 2023 class and Florida commit, would be the third scholarship quarterback on the roster.

McCall would be a good fit for [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] and his offensive system. Having started 34 games across four seasons at Coastal Carolina, McCall is one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the nation amassing over 9,000 scrimmage yards and tallying 94 touchdowns.

A three-time Sun Belt player of the year, Napier is familiar with McCall from his time at Louisiana. Bringing in a top transfer quarterback to compete with Miller and, potentially, Rashada after he enrolls for the spring semester would be a big boost for the program.

Early signing day is Wednesday, Dec. 21. The Florida Gators currently have the No. 9 class in 2023, with 17 of their 21 commitments coming from four-star prospects, according to On3.

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Taking a look at Florida’s depth chart ahead of the Las Vegas Bowl

The Las Vegas Bowl is almost here and Florida is working with a different look roster after a busy start to the transfer season.

Florida’s depth chart for the Las Vegas Bowl looks a whole lot different from the opening-day roster, but that’s expected as players leave for the draft, enter the transfer portal and suffer injuries over the course of the year.

Starting with the offense, Florida is down players at every position but running back. [autotag]Jack Miller III[/autotag] is making his first start at quarterback with [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag] headed to the NFL, and walk-on [autotag]Kyle Engel[/autotag] true will serve as the backup. True freshman [autotag]Max Brown[/autotag] is listed as the third-string option under center.

[autotag]Montrell Johnson Jr[/autotag]. and [autotag]Trevor Etienne[/autotag] are the only available running backs on Saturday, but that duo has the bulk of Florida’s carries over the season so it shouldn’t be a problem.

[autotag]Justin Shorter[/autotag] is preparing for the draft, which means [autotag]Xavier Henderson[/autotag] is the new No. 1 out wide for the Gators. True freshman [autotag]Caleb Douglas[/autotag] gets the No. 2 spot (and his second start) with [autotag]Daejon Reynolds[/autotag] in the transfer portal, and [autotag]Ricky Pearsall[/autotag] is still in the slot. Despite losing some talent from the receivers room, Florida is in an okay spot heading into the bowl game.

At tight end, [autotag]Keon Zipperer[/autotag] is still dealing with an injury, meaning [autotag]Dante Zanders[/autotag] is the starter once again. [autotag]Jonathan Odom[/autotag] was productive as the team’s second tight end towards the end of the season and will get another shot to audition for next year against Oregon State.

Florida’s offensive line features a new face: Redshirt freshman [autotag]Kamryn Waites[/autotag], who will get his first start at right guard with O’Cyrus Torrence headed to the pros. Left tackle [autotag]Richard Gouraige[/autotag] is also going to the NFL, but he could start in the bowl game and is officially listed as an “or” option along with [autotag]Austin Barber[/autotag]. [autotag]Ethan White[/autotag] and [autotag]Kinglsey Eguakun[/autotag] remain at left guard and center, and [autotag]Michael Tarquin[/autotag] returns to the right tackle spot. Christian Williams could see an increase in snaps as the primary backup for either guard spot with [autotag]Richie Leonard[/autotag] injured.

Now on to the defense.

Florida’s defensive line looks the same as it was through the final few games of the season: [autotag]Gervon Dexter Sr[/autotag]. and [autotag]Princely Umanimielen[/autotag] at defensive end, [autotag]Desmond Watson [/autotag]at nose tackle and [autotag]Antwaun Powell-Ryland J[/autotag]r. at the JACK linebacker spot. The big change in the front seven comes at [autotag]Ventrell Miller[/autotag]’s linebacker spot which now belongs to [autotag]Derek Wingo[/autotag]. [autotag]Amari Burney[/autotag] is the other starting linebacker, but expect [autotag]Shemar James[/autotag] and [autotag]Scooby Williams[/autotag] to get some work in too.

In the secondary, [autotag]Jason Marshall Jr[/autotag]. and [autotag]Jaydon Hill[/autotag] remain as Florida’s starting cornerbacks, and [autotag]Trey Dean III[/autotag] and [autotag]Rashad Torrence[/autotag] will get another run at their respective safety spots. [autotag]Jadarrius Perkins[/autotag] is stepping in for an injured [autotag]Tre’Vez Johnson[/autotag] at the STAR, but that shouldn’t disrupt the defense too much.

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Billy Napier names Jack Miller III as Florida’s starting QB for Las Vegas Bowl

It’s Miller time! Billy Napier named Jack Miller III Florida’s starting quarterback for the Las Vegas Bowl.

The Florida Gators will go with [autotag]Jack Miller III[/autotag] at quarterback for its bowl game against the Oregon State Beavers, according to Gators Online among other media members.

Miller spent the entirety of the 2022 regular season on the sidelines after injuring his thumb in the fall. Florida’s medical team fully cleared him just last month and now he’s going to take on the biggest workload of his career.

“Jack Miller probably three, four, five weeks ago was cleared from the thumb injury,” Napier said. He’s back. He’s been able to take reps and certainly this week in particular he’s been able to take a bunch of reps.” So, him, to go along with [autotag]Kyle Engel[/autotag], [autotag]Max Brown[/autotag] those three guys will take the majority of the reps today, tomorrow, and obviously when we get to the Oregon State prep.”

Miller spent time before the injury as Florida’s No. 2 behind [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag], but he didn’t get any in-game reps over the course of the season. Jalen Kitna served as the team’s backup, but he is no longer with the team.

Engel is a walk-on and Brown is a true freshman that was ranked a three-star recruit in high school, so Miller’s minimal experience across five appearances for Ohio State makes him the veteran of the bunch. The good news is Miller will have two weeks of high-volume practices before taking center stage on the Las Vegas strip.

Napier described Miller as “very capable” back in the fall, and he should be highly motivated in what amounts to be an audition for next year’s starting spot. Rumors have linked Florida to several transfer portal quarterbacks, but Miller could lessen the need to get an elite signal caller from the portal with a strong performance against a ranked opponent.

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Which 2023 Florida commit does ESPN think will have the biggest impact?

Florida has plenty of commits to get excited about in the 2023 class, but ESPN thinks one will have a greater impact on the program than the rest.

Florida’s incoming class of recruits has a bunch of studs in it, but there’s one player that ESPN thinks will be the most important piece: quarterback [autotag]Jaden Rashada[/autotag].

Perhaps it’s not all that surprising that ESPN picked Rashada. He’s Florida’s top-30 ranked that flipped from in-state rival Miami, so he should be getting some hype, especially when his first commitment (to UM) send Gators fans spiraling on social media. But it’s the timing of Rashada’s arrival that makes him such a key piece for Florida.

“The Gators lost a commitment from ESPN 300 quarterback [autotag]Nick Evers[/autotag] in the 2022 class when he flipped to Oklahoma,” ESPN Staff Writer Tom VanHaaren wrote. “Napier signed three-star [autotag]Max Brown[/autotag] to fill the void of Evers, but the 6-foot-4-inch, 185-pound Rashada is a big win for the future of the program.”

VanHaaren suggests that Rashada will get a year to learn under [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag], but there are many that believe he’s headed to the draft this offseason. That accelerates the timeline and Florida doesn’t have a ton of options behind Richardson.

[autotag]Jack Miller III[/autotag] was out all year recovering from a thumb injury suffered in the spring, so there’s a real chance that Rashada is competing with him for the starting job as soon as he arrives on campus. Giving Rashada a chance to learn behind Richardson is ideal, but things don’t always work out perfectly when NFL scouts are involved.

ESPN does mention Florida’s impressive defensive line class, headlined by [autotag]Kelby Collins[/autotag], but the timing of Rashada’s arrival is too impactful to deny.

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