Breaking Down Florida Football’s Pass Catchers Part 1: Wide Receivers
Quarterback DJ Lagway is a rising star, entrusted to elevate the Florida offense. Maximizing the diverse weapons around him in the pass game is crucial.
Between the veteran-led tight end room, featuring Hayden Hansen and Tony Livingston, and a wide receiver unit overflowing with youth, speed, athleticism, and potential for super stardom, the Gators have the makings to be one of the most explosive offenses in the country.
We’ll break down Florida’s pass-catchers in two separate previews, beginning with the wide receivers.
The Gators now face the challenge of replacing Chimere Dike and Elijah Badger, who both departed for the NFL. No doubt, the talent is there, but this is a relatively inexperienced group that will need these youngsters to step up quickly.
Returning scholarship players include redshirt sophomores Eugene Wilson III and Aidan Mizell, redshirt senior Kahleil Jackson, and sophomores Tank Hawkins and TJ Abrams.
New this season is UCLA transfer J. Michael Sturdivant, a redshirt senior, along with four true freshmen: Dallas Wilson, Vernell Brown III, Naeshaun Montgomery and Muizz Tounkara. Every new piece enrolled in January, while Tounkara arrived this summer.
Wilson looks to bounce back after a hip injury cut his 2024 campaign short. Wilson decided to redshirt the year after only playing in four games. He finished with 19 receptions for 266 yards and one touchdown. Wilson earned freshman All-SEC honors after a making 61 catches for 538 yards and six touchdowns.
Graham Mertz Eugene Wilson III@GatorsFB takes an early lead on the 2x-defending champs pic.twitter.com/RXPLHl6UBS
— CBS Sports College Football (@CBSSportsCFB) October 28, 2023
When healthy, Wilson is one of Florida’s most explosive pieces, something coach Billy Napier is excited for people to see again.
“We all know three is one of the elite skill players in the entire country. Obviously, when he’s healthy, he’s as good as there is,” Napier said. “This guy’s a one-play touchdown player. When he’s out there, it makes us a lot harder to defend.”
Jackson also suffered a season-ending injury in 2024, a torn ACL in September. Jackson has recorded 24 receptions for 307 yards and a touchdown across 18 games in three seasons. Wilson is expected to be ready for the season, but Jackson’s return remains uncertain.
With injuries stacking up early on last year, it allowed for Mizell to rise up the depth chart to carve out a nice second year. Last season, Mizell made 11 appearances, started three games, hauled in 17 catches for 202 yards and two touchdowns. What makes Mizell stand out is his ability to take the roof off the defense with his speed for big plays down the field. Both of his scores were of 40-plus yards.
https://twitter.com/Hayesfawcett3/status/1852811886062125470
Mizell looks for a breakout third season. And to those still doubting him, he delivered a clear message at his fall camp news conference.
“If you’re still sleeping on me, that’s on y’all,” Mizell said. “I’ll show what I can do this year.”
The receiver room has speed, true, but Hawkins can blaze through a secondary. Hawkins, a four-star recruit out of high school, really started to attract attention after he clocked a 4.25-second 40-yard dash during a camp at Ohio State in 2022.
Florida took notice, offered in March of 2023, and he committed three months later. As a freshman, Hawkins pulled in 10 catches for 100 yards and a touchdown. As a freshman, Abrams saw just 17 offensive snaps but made the most of them, catching both of his targets for 34 yards.
Since Napier arrived in 2022, one thing that can be true — he knows how to bring in talented pass-catchers from the transfer portal. The additions of Badger and Dike last season were home runs and he hopes history repeats itself with the addition of Sturdivant.
The 6-foot-2, 215-pound Cal and UCLA transfer looks to finish out his final year in college as the big-play man the Gators know he can be. It has been an up-and-down career for Sturdivant, who is looking to return to the form that made him a FWAA First-Team All-American as a sophomore at Cal. That year, he caught 65 passes for 755 yards and seven touchdowns.
Sturdivant joined UCLA in 2023 when he delivered 36 catches for 597 yards — a career-best 16.6 yards per reception — along with four touchdowns. His production dipped in 2024, when he finished with 22 receptions for 315 yards and two scores.
https://twitter.com/B1Gfootball/status/1860564445119836371
Former Gators quarterback Graham Mertz, who was also Sturdivant’s childhood neighbor, helped get the big man to Gainesville.
“[Mertz] loved everything about this place,” Sturdivant said. “I saw the success that he had here, and the success with the people that they brought here to play receiver. He just had nothing but great things to say about the school.
“I saw the direction that this program is headed in the receiver room, the quarterback room, the O-linemen and the success that coach Napier and (receivers coach) Billy G (Gonzales) have had,” Sturdivant said. “So I’m extremely blessed to be in a position with those two guys that can give me the knowledge and put me in positions to go help this team win games.”
Florida hit the jackpot this last recruiting cycle by bringing in one of the top receiver classes in the nation: Brown, Wilson, Montgomery and Tounkara.
Wilson, a five-star recruit from Tampa, initially committed to Oregon on signing day before switching to Florida after receiving permission to void his national letter of intent.
“Dallas’s recruitment was really unique,” Napier said at SEC Media Days. “I think his family dynamic with his mother and his grandmother — and Dallas actually contacted us. I think he asked out of his national letter and then contacted us. We recruited Dallas the entire time — ever since we knew he was a really good player. But, look, Dallas is going to make our team better.”
Wilson stood out during the Orange and Blue Game this spring, popping off for 10 catches, for 195 yards and two touchdowns. He was on track to likely start this season before a lower-body injury in preseason camp has sidelined him for the foreseeable future.
No.6 for six.
Dallas Wilson now has seven receptions for 133 yards and a touchdown.
Great ball by Harrison Bailey. pic.twitter.com/VDbGImULFR
— Nick Marcinko (@marcinko_nick) April 12, 2025
Brown also comes in as a former five-star recruit and has started to stand out among the rest of his peers this offseason. With injuries sidelining the older Wilson in the spring and the younger Wilson in the August, Brown has seized every opportunity to earn praise for his “pro mentality.”
“Vernell Brown III has taken full advantage of the opportunities he’s gotten,” Napier said of the UF legacy. “He’s proven to me that he’s ready to play. Then others have flashed, you know, we got a lot of guys that have flashed, but I’m looking for consistency.”
Brown totaled about 3,000 yards and 21 touchdowns in two seasons at Jones High School to earn five-star recognition. Florida recruited him heavily before securing his commitment in July 2024.
Montgomery, a Central Falls, R.I. native, broke out as a junior at Miami Central by scoring eight touchdowns on just 16 catches. As a senior, he added 25 receptions for 537 yards and four scores, then flashed big-play ability with a 51-yard grab in Florida’s spring game.
These talented freshmen, combined with Florida’s experienced returnees and transfers, position the receiver room for immediate impact. With depth and potential at every turn, Florida’s passing game is poised for a dynamic season.
Category: College Football, Feature Sports News, Gators Football, SEC
