Tag: Nick Elksnis

Florida TE in transfer portal commits to this SEC East program

Another Gator is leaving the Swamp. Tight end Nick Elksnis is headed to South Carolina to play for Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks.

After two years with the Florida Gators, tight end [autotag]Nick Elksnis[/autotag] is transferring to South Carolina, according to a social media post he made on Sunday.

Elksnis played through the first five weeks of Florida’s season, mostly in a special teams role. He got some work in at tight end in the win over Eastern Washington, but that was his final appearance of the season. He then was added to the injury list for the rest of the year and was seen in a sling. He recently told Rivals that he fractured his shoulder but said that it is completely healed. Once he knew that he was likely to enter the portal, Elksnis allowed his shoulder to fully heal instead of rushing it.

South Carolina should offer Elksnis more playing time with two players at the position transferring out and another stepping away from football. He visited the team on Thursday to observe a bowl practice and made his decision official two days later.

Elksnis said that he needed a “fresh start” and that South Carolina was a good fit for him based on playing time and culture. Shane Beamer recruited him while he was at Oklahoma, so there’s some familiarity there for Elksnis.

He’ll join the Gamecocks for spring practices and should be in line for some playing time. He has Oct. 14 circled on his calendar and is looking for revenge against his former team.

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Gators TE Nick Elksnis plans to enter transfer portal

Another Gator is headed to the transfer portal. Tight end Nick Elksnis, a class of 2021 signee, is leaving the program after two seasons.

Florida tight end [autotag]Nick Elksnis[/autotag] became the second Gator in as many days to announce his plans to enter the transfer portal. Elksnis took to Twitter to announce his transfer, but he’ll have to wait until Dec. 5 to officially enter the portal.

Elksnis, a former three-star prospect from the class of 2021 according to 247Sports, was on the field for just 61 snaps over two years at the University of Florida. Injuries have limited him this season and kept him sidelined since Week 5. The specifics of his injury aren’t known to the general public, but the injury report does indicate it’s an upper-body issue.

Elksnis should get some looks from elite programs now that he’s officially stepping away from the program. He fielded offers from Florida State, Miami, Michigan and Tennessee among others as a prep player.

Florida’s tight end situation has been dire all year, and those problems date back to the spring when Elksnis suffered a broken scapula that didn’t require surgery to heal. After Elksnis went down in the spring, so did [autotag]Jonathan Odom[/autotag], leaving Florida with very few tight ends to work with. That’s part of the reason [autotag]Dante Zanders[/autotag] shifted positions, and it took until the South Carolina game to see any production from Odom.

Most of Elksnis’ snaps came in a special teams role, so it’s easy to see why he’s moving on from the program. He joins a growing list of Gators that plan on entering the portal in December, and he likely won’t be the last to leave the program. Billy Napier expected some attrition after his first year at the program, and he likely has a plan to replace whatever talent departs.

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Depth Chart: Gators light at WR ahead of Week 11 matchup with South Carolina

The Gators might be thin at wide receiver this weekend when South Carolina comes to the Swamp.

The Florida Gators are still dealing with injuries, particularly at the wide receiver position, according to the Week 11 depth chart update released Wednesday evening.

The team’s leading receiver, [autotag]Justin Shorter[/autotag], is still listed as questionable after missing the Texas A&M game, and backup [autotag]Ja’Quavion Fraziars[/autotag] is out with an upper-body injury. Fraziars made his first-career start against the Aggies last week, so Florida will be down to it’s reserve options on Saturday.

Shorter is still listed as the starter, but freshman [autotag]Caleb Douglas[/autotag] is set to make his first career start if he can’t go. Behind him and [autotag]Xavier Henderson[/autotag] will be Marcus Burke and [autotag]Daejon Reynolds[/autotag] with [autotag]Kahleil Jackson[/autotag] as another option. [autotag]Ricky Pearsall[/autotag] is the starter in the slot.

The wide receiver room isn’t the only position group to deal with injuries. Starting left guard [autotag]Ethan White[/autotag] was added to the injury report and is listed as questionable with an upper-body injury. White is still listed as the starter, but that decision will be made as kickoff approaches.

Freshman kicker [autotag]Trey Smack[/autotag], who has exclusively served as Florida’s kickoff man this season, is out for a second straight week after missing the Texas A&M game. [autotag]Travis Freeman [/autotag]will back up [autotag]Adam Mihalek[/autotag] for all kicking duties.

At linebacker, [autotag]Diwun Black[/autotag] is back on the depth chart and off the injury report. He’s listed as a third-team option behind [autotag]Amari Burney[/autotag] and [autotag]Shemar James[/autotag].

Tight end Keon Zipperer will miss a second-straight game, and that’s all for the depth chart update this week. [autotag]Devin Moore[/autotag], [autotag]Arlis Boardingham[/autotag] and [autotag]Nick Elksnis[/autotag] are all out as well.

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Depth Chart: Florida dealing with injuries ahead of Texas A&M game

We know Florida will have to make up for the loss of Brenton Cox Jr. this week, but that wasn’t the only change made to the depth chart ahead of Texas A&M.

There were a number of notable changes on the weekly update to Florida’s depth chart, most of which had to do with injuries and departures from the team.

Following the departure of JACK linebacker [autotag]Brenton Cox Jr[/autotag]., [autotag]Antwaun Powell-Ryland Jr[/autotag]. is now listed as the starter with [autotag]Lloyd Summerall III[/autotag] and David Reese behind him. Summerall should be the No. 2, but he is coming off an injury.

Nickelback Kamar Wilcoxson’s third-string spot at the STAR position was left blank this week.

Wide receiver [autotag]Justin Shorter[/autotag] might be the most notable addition to the injury report. Florida’s leading receiver is listed as questionable for Saturday’s contest with a lower-body injury. Shorter ranks in the top 10 for receiving yards among SEC players and has hauled in a pair of touchdown passes this year.

Expect sophomore [autotag]Ja’Quavion Fraziars[/autotag] and true freshman [autotag]Caleb Douglas[/autotag] to receive an increased workload if Shorter can’t go.

Tight end [autotag]Keon Zipperer[/autotag] is also dealing with an injury and won’t play on Saturdays. An Instagram post that was later deleted sparked some fear that he’d be out for the rest of the year, but Billy Napier said there’s still hope for him to return this year.

“Keon, I don’t know where that got blown out of — that’s wild,” Napier said with a smile. “Keon’ got a little bit of a knee (injury). Nothing long-term there. It’s very much to be determined based off his rehab and recovery right now. We don’t expect him to be available this weekend, but long-term no issue there.”

Inside linebacker [autotag]Scooby Williams[/autotag] is questionable to play as well, but the corps of [autotag]Amari Burney[/autotag] and [autotag]Ventrell Miller[/autotag] should hold up with true freshman [autotag]Shemar James[/autotag] and sophomore [autotag]Derek Wing[/autotag]o behind them.

Linebacker [autotag]Diwun Black[/autotag], tight ends [autotag]Arlis Boardingham[/autotag] and [autotag]Nick Elksnis[/autotag] and cornerback [autotag]Devin Moore [/autotag]were all listed as out once again. Napier provided an update on Moore following a shoulder surgery that will keep him out for the rest of the season.

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2022 Florida Football Season Preview: Tight Ends

Florida’s tight end room has seen a complete overhaul since the end of last season. Here’s a look at the group heading into 2022.

Next up in Gators Wire’s position-by-position breakdown of the 2022 Florida Gators football roster is the tight end room.

Last year’s starter [autotag]Kemore Gamble[/autotag] was one of the many players that left the team via the transfer portal. While he suits up for the UCF Knights this season, the Gators will test out some new names at the position. Senior [autotag]Keon Zipperer[/autotag] is the returning player in the room with the most experience, but a trio of defensive players made the switch to tight end after two others went down with an injury in the spring.

Billy Napier added a pair of tight ends in the 2022 recruiting cycle too, so there’s plenty of depth on the team at this point. The big task for Napier will be to figure out which players deserve the most playing time. Most of these guys are relatively unproven, and Napier likes to run a lot of two-tight-end sets to engage the run game.

There seems to be a clear first and second team in place as the season draws near, but an injury or two could give some rotational pieces an opportunity to shine.

Here’s a look at the nine tight ends listed on the 2022 Florida Gators fall roster.

See also:

2023 Florida Football Season Preview: Quarterbacks

2023 Florida Football Season Preview: Running Backs

2023 Florida Football Season Preview: Wide Receivers

2023 Florida Football Season Preview: Offensive Line

Injuries are forcing Florida football to get creative this spring

Florida has been forced to be creative and shuffle its personnel around after suffering injuries at several different positions.

Coach [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag]’s offensive formations at Louisiana frequently featured tight ends. He is having difficulty implementing that philosophy with the Gators because of the injuries that piled up at the position.

Napier said that he feared that redshirt freshman Gage Wilcox has suffered a ‘career-ending injury’ during practice earlier this spring on Thursday. Florida was already thin at the position after it was reported that sophomore [autotag]Jonathan Odoms[/autotag] and redshirt freshman [autotag]Nick Elksnis[/autotag] will miss the rest of spring ball due to injuries. Senior [autotag]Keon Zipperer[/autotag] is currently the lone active scholarship tight end on the roster.

The amount of injuries that the Gators have suffered at tight end and other positions this spring has forced Napier and staff to be creative.

In order to mitigate depth issues, Florida has drastically shuffled its personnel. It moved senior defensive end [autotag]Dante Zanders[/autotag] back to tight end, which he last played in 2019. The coaching staff also switched redshirt junior [autotag]Noah Keeter[/autotag] to the position from linebacker. Finally, defensive tackle [autotag]Griffin McDowell[/autotag] has caught some passes this week to help out the unit.

Napier said Florida is also struggling with depth at inside linebacker, safety and offensive line and only have enough bodies for a third team behind the starters and backups.

“We’re thin,” he said Thursday after the Gators wrapped up their first spring scrimmage. “When you have three guys get injured — scholarship players at a position that’s already a little thin — that throws a wrench in your plans.”

Florida added five midyear transfers in January and could potentially make that double-digits, according to Napier.

“I think we live in a new era, right?” he said about the transfer portal. “There’s certainly a new way of operating in college football,” he said. “You can anticipate us being very aggressive in the portal this spring. We need players. That window of time is coming. We anticipate doing a lot of business and we’re looking forward to it.”

Napier and the Gators are also planning to present five walk-ons with scholarships for the spring semester.

It’s all hands on deck for Florida right now as it continues to battle injuries.

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Florida’s TE room just got tighter after ‘potentially career-ending’ injury

Terrible news for Gators fans and Gage Wilcox. We hope the best for the young man.

The tight end position has been an area where Florida football is running thin this spring and things just took a turn for the worst on Thursday. Head coach [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] announced that redshirt freshman [autotag]Gage Wilcox[/autotag] suffered what he called a “potentially career-ending” injury during an early practice, joining redshirt freshman tight end [autotag]Nick Elksnis[/autotag] and sophomore tight end [autotag]Jonathan Odom[/autotag] in the medical tent.

According to Swamp247, Wilcox had missed practice over the past four sessions but could not be ascertained exactly when the injury occurred. When asked about the event, Napier offered, “It’s very unfortunate. That’s part of the game though.”

It is also still unclear exactly what the nature of the injury was.

The absence of Wilcox, Elksnis and Odom leaves only [autotag]Keon Zipperer[/autotag] as the lone active scholarship tight end on the roster this spring. However, the recent squeeze at the position has Napier and his staff trying out senior defensive end [autotag]Dante Zanders[/autotag] and walk-on junior linebacker [autotag]Noah Keeter[/autotag] as possible replacements.

The former was recruited as a three-star at the position out of high school and appeared there a total of 15 times in his freshman years. The latter was a two-way player in high school, with tight end being his role on the offensive side of the ball. So at the very least, there is some experience behind that shallow depth.

You can count on the Gators taking a serious look at the transfer portal in the coming weeks to help fill this gaping void. In Napier’s own words: “When you have three guys that get injured at a position that was already thin, it throws a little wrench in your plan.”

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Coveted TE recruit quickly sets Florida visit date after receiving offer

Three-star tight end Reid Mikeska quickly scheduled a visit to Florida after he received an offer earlier this week.

Florida wasn’t planning to take any tight ends in the 2023 recruiting cycle after it inked three players in coach [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag]’s transition class. However, the Gators have changed their tune after depth issues have arisen following [autotag]Nick Elksnis[/autotag] and [autotag]Jonathan Odoms[/autotag]’ injuries that will cause them to miss the rest of spring. They currently only have one healthy scholarship tight end left.

With Florida’s change of plans, coach [autotag]William Peagler[/autotag] has delivered several scholarship offers to prospects. One recipient is three-star [autotag]Reid Mikeska[/autotag], and after giving the green light, he is slated to visit the Swamp this weekend.

247Sports ranks Mikeska as the 428th overall prospect and the 23rd best at his position. The Cypress, Texas, native hauled in 24 catches for 229 yards and four receiving touchdowns during his junior season.

Mikeska looks forward to putting Peagler’s name to a face when he comes to campus this weekend. He told Swamp247 that he has a good relationship with him so far and has communicated with him for a few months before Peagler gave him the good news.

He also recently dropped a top 12 that included the Gators. Mikeska hopes to make a commitment before the start of his senior season and wants to use his official visits in June.

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Gators running thin at TE in spring practices due to injuries

Tight ends Jonathan Odom and Nick Elksnis will miss spring practices as they recover from injuries.

Billy Napier thought he had plenty of tight end depth coming into the spring, but it turns out that the Florida Gators aren’t quite as loaded at the position as originally thought.

Redshirt freshman Nick Elksnis and sophomore Jonathan Odom are out for the rest of the spring, according to a report from 247Sports. Elksnis is dealing with a broken shoulder blade and Odom has a torn labrum. Both players could feasibly return to action before the season, but missing spring practices will hurt when it comes to learning the new scheme.

Senior Keon Zipperer is the presumed starter after appearing in all 13 of Florida’s games last season, but he only brought in 11 passes on the year. Zipperer is healthy and currently the only scholarship tight end at practices. Redshirt freshman Gage Wilcox was missing from practices last week, which means the next man up is senior Dante Zanders who recently switched back to tight end from defensive end.

Zanders actually was recruited as a three-star tight end out of high school, so the position isn’t foreign to him by any means. Walk-on junior linebacker Noah Keeter has also worked with the group in recent weeks.

Florida did sign three players in the 2022 class that should add some depth once they get on campus over the summer. Four-star [autotag]Tony Livingston[/autotag] was originally listed as an offensive tackle, but Napier said the team would be utilizing him at tight end. Four-star athlete [autotag]Arlis Boardingham[/autotag] is a tight-end/receiver hybrid that has the size to play early in the SEC, and three-star [autotag]Hayden Hansen[/autotag] rounds out the group.

Injuries won’t keep Elksnis and Odom out forever, but the Gators are stretched pretty thin right now at tight end. Napier’s even decided to take a look at some of the recruits in the class of 2023 after initially planning on going without a tight end commit in the cycle.

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Florida looks to steal this tight end commit from Florida State

The Gators are looking to shore up their tight end room with this Seminoles commit.

The recruiting trail continues for Florida football as new head coach Billy Napier navigates the Gators into what everyone hopes will be a promising future. The acquisition of top prep talent is a sure way to turn around a floundering football program and his army of staffers are burning the midnight oil in their efforts to woo top prospects to Gainesville.

One of the areas of concern heading into the 2022 season and beyond is at tight end, which currently only has two scholarship players who naturally play the position — senior [autotag]Keon Zipperer[/autotag] and redshirt freshman [autotag]Gage Wilcox[/autotag]. Florida could bolster its room with the addition of three-star prospect Randy Pittman from A. Crawford Mosley in Lynn Haven, Florida, who recently paid a visit with the Orange and Blue.

Currently a Florida State commit, the 6-foot-2-inch, 230-pound prospect stopped by on Saturday to watch Florida’s sixth spring practice and meet with the coaches. Unfortunately, Wilcox did not participate while [autotag]Nick Elksnis[/autotag] and [autotag]Jonathan Odom[/autotag] were out with injuries, so he did not get to see much from his potential peers, but did come away with a positive impression of staff, including tight ends coach William Peagler.

“It was amazing out there,” Pittman told Jacob Rudner of Swamp247. “The tempo that was going on, the way that [head coach Billy] Napier was moving everyone around and coaching and teaching people how things work over here, it was amazing.”

“I was able to watch the tight ends working on the drills doing different types of blocks, reblocks and things like that,” he added. We got to break down some offensive plays and some offensive schemes. It was nice.”

Pittman committed to the Seminoles on April 16, 2021, but has kept the door open for other schools to court him and has continued to make visits over the past several months. While FSU is obviously in the lead for his services, UF is hot on the trail with UCF throwing its hat in the ring as well according to On3, with Tennessee, Florida Atlantic, South Carolina and West Georgia also listed as suitors.

The in-state three-star tight end is the No. 396 prospect in the nation and No. 21 among 2023 tight ends in the 247Sports Composite while landing at No. 509 overall and No. 26 at his position on the On3 Consensus.

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