Biggest position battles for the Florida Gators entering fall camp

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators report for fall training camp on Tuesday as they embark on Year 3 of the Billy Napier era. The team will hold its first practice Wednesday.

Here are UF’s biggest position battles entering camp.

WR

There’s no question about who will be WR1. Eugene Wilson III is primed for a breakout season after a strong first spring and True Freshman All-American honors. While Wilson likely replaces Ricky Pearsall as Florida’s leading receiver, it’s actually transfer Chimere Dike who will take over for Pearsall in the slot. He was the go-to target for Graham Mertz at Wisconsin, catching 47 passes for 689 yards and six touchdowns (all career highs) from Mertz in 2022. Dike and Wilson have established themselves as the team’s top two WRs.

Behind them, however, there’s stiff competition for the last starting job. The favorite is Elijhah Badger , a top-100 transfer who made 135 catches for 1,579 yards and 10 touchdowns at Arizona State the past two seasons. Badger must beat out Kahleil Jackson , who started nine games last year, as well as Marcus Burke and Aidan Mizell , both of whom have played well this summer during OTAs, according to sources. One source expects the battle for spots 3-6 in Florida’s WR rotation to carry over into the season and possibly change on a weekly basis.

RG

The Gators have to replace starting right guard Micah Mazzccua , who transferred to Nebraska. They addressed this need in the spring with a position change, switching starting right tackle Damieon George Jr . inside to step in for Mazzccua. The move has been a healthy one for George, causing him to transform his body this offseason , and the staff thinks guard is his more natural spot. That being said, UF has moved another right tackle to right guard to give George some competition at the position.

Gators Online first reported last week that fellow redshirt junior Kamryn Waites has been playing right guard in OTAs and will work there in fall camp to compete with George for the starting job. Waites made his first career start as a right guard in the 2022 Las Vegs Bowl. The 6-foot-8 lineman will also continue to cross train at right tackle, where he started the final two games of last year, but redshirt freshman Caden Jones has emerged at that spot this offseason with Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson .

F

Florida has a few positions up for grabs on defense, including MIKE LB and STAR, but the most competitive one in fall camp will be the F spot. The Gators are so loaded there that they moved two players at the position, sophomore Kelby Collins and junior Brien Taylor Jr ., to END this offseason. Now there’s two upperclassmen and a pair of talented underclassmen on the depth chart. Justus Boone is back after suffering a season-ending injury during 2023 fall camp. Tyreak Sapp started 11 games last year following the loss of Boone, who was projected to start a F.

Now Boone and Sapp will battle it out for the starting job over the next month, but they won’t be the only players in the rotation at that spot. Sophomore Kamran James , a top-100 recruit in the 2023 class, and freshman LJ McCray , a five-star early enrollee, are both vying for playing time. Boone and Sapp are redshirt juniors and considered starters 1A and 1B, but multiple sources think James and McCray could be better than both of them and will contribute this season.

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