Wide Receiver Room Has Case for Best Unit on Gators Roster

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — For a program like the Florida Gators, they bring in some of the top football prospects yearly at nearly all positions. 

However, Gators wide receiver Aidan Mizell thinks that he and his guys at wide receiver are sitting at the top among the best position units on the 2025 roster. 

“Got to be one,” Mizell said on where he’d rank the wide receiver group. “We got all the speed, we got all the talent, playmakers… we got it all. I like us over all of them.”

The stats give Mizell a case. 

Gators head coach Billy Napier has lengthy wideouts who excel at contested catches, such as incoming UCLA transfer J. Michael Sturdivant and freshman Dallas Wilson. 

“They are big body receivers, both of them,” Mizell said of Wilson and Sturdivant. “They’ve been doing 50/50 balls, but it’s not really a 50/50 with them, you know what I mean?”

Along with Mizell Napier has also recruited shifty playmakers including Vernell Brown III, Eugene Wilson III, Tank Hawkins, Tawaski Abrams and Naeshaun Montgomery. 

For Mizell specifically, his ability to extend plays after the catch has been a welcome addition since he got on campus. 

For example, in last year’s contest with Mississippi State, Mizell turned what was a short five-to-seven-yard gain into what would’ve been a touchdown if not for a questionable flag from the referees. 

Then, in Florida’s recent scrimmage, Mizell showed off his talents by housing one for his team. 

“I thought that Mizell, his ability to run after the catch, I thought today, that showed up,” Napier said. “He had a big touchdown early.”

And when you combine Mizell with all of the other receivers in the room, they could even rival last year’s collection of receivers, says Florida’s quarterback coach. 

“We had really good ones last year,” quarterbacks coach Ryan O’Hara said. “But now, I just feel we're deeper this year.”

Although there could be some pushback on that idea, given the situations for some of the receivers coming into this campaign. 

Wilson III dealt with a hip problem that eventually required surgery and ended his 2024 season prematurely. Hawkins and Abrams were sparingly used within the offense a season ago, and the trio of freshmen being hyped up have yet to play a down in a college game. 

The only guy with multiple years of production is Sturdivant. He tallied 1,667 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns on 123 catches in 40 career games between California and UCLA. 

Nonetheless, this stable of receivers is still talented, and when it comes to getting open, O’Hara has faith in those players to do so. 

“You find the one-on-one, and now you gotta trust your guys to go win their matchups or find the sweet spot in the zone,” O’Hara said. “… those guys are all gonna win at their point of attack, so now it's about DJ keeping the ball away from the safeties and the problem areas.”

It’s also evident that evading defensive backs shouldn’t be a problem for this group when looking at some of the individual resumes. 

In Wilson III’s case, he was dealt a season-ending injury, but he was electric in 2023. As a freshman, Wilson III recorded 538 yards and six touchdowns on 61 catches, which led to him being named to the Freshman All-SEC team that year. 

The freshman duo of Brown III and Wilson had dominant careers in high school, too, before making it to Gainesville. 

Brown III hauled in 164 receptions for 2,871 yards and 21 touchdowns over the past two seasons at Jones (Orlando, Fla.) High School.  Wilson logged 130 receptions for 2,423 yards and 28 touchdowns across three years spent with Tampa Bay Tech’s (Tampa, Fla.) varsity team.

So, while Florida’s offensive consistency in the passing game was up and down last year, noted by the No. 11 scoring offense and No. 9 passing offense in the SEC, with a room full of guys like the ones they have in the receiver room right now, combined with their star quarterback DJ Lagway, it’ll be hard not to score points in 2025.  

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