College football player prop: Ready for Boardingham

When you compete in the SEC, there aren’t many easy opponents at this time of year. Florida just got beaten by No. 1 Georgia to fall to 5-3, and three more ranked teams await at the back end of the schedule. But before that gauntlet, the denizens of “The Swamp” welcome a 2-6 Arkansas squad that has lost five games by a touchdown or less. As the Gators look for the victory that makes them bowl eligible, an emerging player gets our backing for top prop:

The bet: Over 26½ receiving yards for Florida tight end Arlis Boardingham (Bally’s)

A redshirt freshman, Boardingham has successfully made the transition from playing wide receiver in high school. He broke out versus Vanderbilt three games ago, catching seven passes for 99 yards and two touchdowns. Then he followed that performance with five receptions for 55 yards and another score against South Carolina.

Trying to withstand the tenacious Georgia defense, Florida’s tight ends were largely needed as blockers last week. Boardingham saw just one target from Graham Mertz and turned it into a 14-yard gain. But he should return to a prominent pass-catching role against the Razorbacks, and there’s less competition at the position with Jonathan Odom having been ruled out.

Although Arkansas has faced rather pedestrian tight ends thus far, four of them have cleared this number comfortably. The best of the bunch, BYU’s Isaac Rex, accumulated 57 yards on four receptions. And Alabama’s Amari Niblack got home in the first half on a 29-yard touchdown catch.

With a skillset that coach Billy Napier calls “unique,” Boardingham could have an outing that surpasses all of them.