Breaking Down Florida’s Pass-Catchers Part 2: Tight Ends
Quarterback DJ Lagway is a rising star, tasked with elevating the Florida offense. Maximizing the diverse weapons around him in the pass game is crucial.
The veteran-led tight end room features Hayden Hansen and Tony Livingston, while the wide receiver unit is overflowing with youth and potential for super stardom. Together, the Gators have the makings to be one of the most explosive offenses in the country.
Day 13 and the final media viewing window of Florida’s fall camp.#Gators TEs Hayden Hansen, Tony Livingston and Amir Jackson. pic.twitter.com/NWHUTmFZCQ
— Zach Goodall (@zach_goodall) August 14, 2025
After breaking down the wideouts in part 1, part 2 will be about previewing the tight end room.
Unlike the receiver room, which is a young unit, the tight end room is one of the veteran-led position groups. Former Gator Arlis Boardingham’s exit to the transfer portal is the only significant loss from last season.
Outside of that, Florida returns both its projected starting tight ends in 2025 with Hansen and Livingston.
After starting in all 13 games a season ago, Hansen enters as a surefire first-stringer this season for Florida.
Hansen started all 13 games last season, primarily contributing as a blocking tight end in both the run and pass game. He logged 349 run-blocking snaps and surrendered just one sack in 75 pass-blocking reps. As a receiver, he set career highs with 15 catches for 207 yards and a touchdown.
The John Mackey Award named the redshirt junior to its watch list earlier this month, and he hopes to become the third Gator tight end to win the honor (Aaron Hernandez in 2009, Kyle Pitts in 2020).
Over the offseason, Hansen made great strides in improving his speed and pass-catching skills. During spring practice, Hansen reached up to 21 miles per hour, which, for a 6-foot-8, 270-pound human being, is quite fast. Wanting a bigger part in the pass game, Hansen worked heavily with the wide receivers in spring practice. Hansen came away pleased with the progress he saw during fall camp.
“Going through our first official fall camp practice yesterday, I saw it a lot,” Hansen said on July 31. “It’s just in little details like creating separation. You’re never going to be one hundred percent open in this league, so it’s always about the little mechanics you can do, like lean flipper, long arm, things like that. That’s what I was really working on, using my length to get open.”
Similar to Hansen, Livingston has primarily served as a run-blocking tight end during his time here at Florida. Last season, he appeared in 10 games. Additionally, he started once when Florida utilized a 12-personnel formation to open a game.
He logged 160 of his 245 total snaps as run-blocking plays, but still managed to haul in 12 catches for 113 yards and two touchdowns. Both his scores came in the final two games of the year against Florida State and Tulane.
Redshirt-freshman Amir Jackson projects as the likely third-string tight end on the depth chart. A former four-star recruit, Jackson ranks as the highest-rated tight end Billy Napier has signed at Florida. Although he redshirted his freshman year, he did see action in four games last season.
Freshmen Cameron Kossmann and Micah Jones both enrolled at Florida in January and were able to participate in spring practice.
Jones broke out as a receiving threat in his senior year at Madison (Miss.) Central, posting 45 catches for 550 yards and six touchdowns after totaling just 18 receptions for 245 yards and two scores across his sophomore and junior seasons.
Kossmann, a Chesterfield (Mo.) Marquette product, does not have any official high school stats available. However, his NCSA recruiting profile lists him at 6-foot-5, 240 pounds with a 4.7-second 40-yard dash and a 34-inch vertical.
Lastly, redshirt junior Scott Isacks returns, primarily playing on special teams during his tenure at Florida. He has racked up 33 offensive snaps in his two seasons playing, but did most of his work as a kickoff and punt blocker during that same timespan.
Category: College Football, Feature Sports News, Gator Sports, Gators Football, SEC
