Gators 2024 Positional Outlook: Tight End

All Gators is reviewing, and previewing, each position on Florida's roster during the 2024 offseason. The tight end group is up next.

Photo: Florida tight end Arlis Boardingham; Credit: Alex Shepherd

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The winds of attrition breezed through The Swamp again this winter, with Florida making 30 total scholarship roster additions and 21 subtractions via the NCAA transfer portal, along with several departing players heading toward the NFL Draft or their post-football careers. 

All Gators is breaking down each position on Florida's roster as the team approaches spring training camp, reviewing the performances of each group in 2023 and previewing their makeup for the 2024 season. 

Following our dissections of the quarterback, running back and wide receiver units, Florida's tight end group is up next.

If required, All Gators will revisit positions affected by the spring transfer portal window later this offseason. We will offer final depth chart projections during Florida's fall training camp in August. 

2023 Season in Review: Florida's Tight Ends

Florida fully embraced a youth movement at tight end last season. After the offseason outward transfers of reserves Nick Elksnis and Griffin McDowell, and senior Keon Zipperer's season-derailing spring camp knee injury, the Gators looked toward a pair of redshirt freshmen to occupy significant roles within the offense in 2023. 

Arlis Boardingham and Hayden Hansen answered the call, offering varying skill sets that respectively met the mold of the H and Y tight end positions head coach Billy Napier has historically deployed in his offensive scheme when it is firing on all cylinders. 

Following a seven-snap freshman year, the 6-foot-3, 240-pound Boardingham broke out as a top-five pass-catching target of quarterback Graham Mertz's last season. 

He finished fourth on the team with 26 receptions, which went for 289 yards and four touchdowns, memorably including two scores at home versus Vanderbilt and one score on the road at South Carolina. The latter aided the Gators in their comeback effort to beat the Gamecocks, 41-39, marking Florida's second-to-last touchdown of the game.

Although he started only two games, he appeared in 11 offensively and was on the field for an average of 39.5 offensive snaps per matchup.

Marginally outpacing Boardingham on the gridiron was Hansen, who averaged 40 snaps per game over 12 appearances and nine starts. While he complemented Boardingham as a pass-catcher, Hansen often took the first snap of a given contest because of his blocking prowess. Florida ran the ball on its opening play in five of his nine starts. 

Hansen was deployed as a blocker on 68.8% of his season-long snaps, according to Pro Football Focus. He operated as such primarily in the run game, although he occasionally provided pass protection, splitting those reps 257-to-73.

His 6-foot-6, 265-pound frame made him a receiving target in the red zone, where he caught touchdown passes of four yards in length against Kentucky and five yards versus Georgia. Hansen caught 12 passes for 150 yards and those two scores on the year.

Boardingham and Hansen's efforts were paired with those of redshirt junior Jonathan Odom, who spent the 2023 offseason recovering from a major knee injury then suffered a concussion in Week 5 that ultimately ended his final campaign with UF. He caught nine passes for 75 yards in four games and has since transferred to Eastern Michigan. 

True freshman Tony Livingston was also limited by injuries throughout the year but notably caught a pass in his first career game, against Utah, which went for four yards.  

Redshirt senior Dante Zanders, who in a pinch returned to tight end and started seven games in 2022 after two seasons spent on the defensive line, appeared in four games and mainly functioned as a blocker. He caught one pass in 2023 after hauling in 10 the year before. 

Out and In 

Scholarship players only 

• Out: Dante Zanders (graduation), Jonathan Odom (transferred to Eastern Michigan), Andrew Savaiinaea (transferred to Nevada) 

• In: Amir Jackson (freshman, summer enrollee), Gavin Hill (position change) 

Looking Forward

Following their 2023 emergences, Boardingham and Hansen should be expected to continue operating in and build upon the roles they established themselves in last season. 

The Gators' tight end room has shed itself of veterans who contributed rather minimally, paving the way for Boardingham and Hansen to unquestionably lead the group in 2024. The duo can continue to improve as they're still relatively fresh college contributors, with each having logged fewer than 500 career offensive snaps. 

Conforming with the youth movement, the 6-foot-5, 250-pound Livingston could see his snap count and passing game utilization increase moving forward after breaking into the rotation in his first season of college football. 

It is worth noting that Livingston was removed from the game for a year, between his high school graduation and his freshman season, yet managed to play in Week 1. 

Zipperer, who underwent surgery for his injury last spring, returned to UF for a sixth season and should factor into the rotation as well. Before missing the 2023 campaign, the 6-foot-1, 240-pound tight end accumulated 38 receptions for 486 yards and four touchdowns over four years with the Gators. 

Although he might require a developmental freshman year as a summer enrollee, Florida has high hopes for 2024 tight end recruit Amir Jackson, a dynamic football and former basketball player from Portal (Ga.) High. 

The consensus No. 7 tight end and a top-100 overall prospect in the cycle, Jackson, 6-foot-5, 220 pounds, provided a constant threat to defenses at the prep level. He averaged 16.7 yards per catch and scored 17 touchdowns at tight end, and on the ground, rushed for 8.4 yards per tote and scored five touchdowns over three seasons.

Jackson also averaged a double-double each game in three of his four varsity seasons on the court. 

Similar to Zanders' 2022 move, redshirt freshman Gavin Hill (6-foot-3, 255 pounds) is transitioning to tight end this offseason after spending his rookie year with Florida and most of his high school career at defensive end. He notably caught two touchdown passes as a freshman tight end on Gainesville (Fla.) Buchholz's varsity squad, though. 

Early 2024 Gators TE Depth Chart Projection 

Starters: Arlis Boardingham, H position (r-So.), Hayden Hansen, Y position (r-So.)

Backups: Tony Livingston (So.), Keon Zipperer (r-Sr.) 

Reserves: Scott Isacks* (r-So.), Amir Jackson (Fr.), Gavin Hill (r-Fr.)

* indicates walk-on status

Florida 2024 Positional Outlooks 

Gators 2024 Positional Outlook: Quarterback

Gators 2024 Positional Outlook: Running Back

Gators 2024 Positional Outlook: Wide Receiver

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