Envisioning Roles for Florida's Transfers: LB Teradja Mitchell

All Gators is projecting roles and fits for each of Florida's 2023 offseason transfers. Up next: Linebacker Teradja Mitchell.

Photo: Teradja Mitchell; Credit: Florida Gators Creative Media

When Billy Napier arrived in Gainesville, he made his plans for Florida football clear: Tear everything down and rebuild the Gators from scratch.

If Napier's transparency throughout his first offseason in charge wasn't enough to convince UF fans of that reality, his last two months as the program's head coach certainly should.

Since the second half of November 2022, Florida completed its first repeat losing season in the SEC since the 1950s, saw 22 scholarship players enter the transfer portal, welcomed ten FBS transfers into the university after acquiring six last offseason and signed Napier's first complete high school recruiting class, a haul including two or more signees at six different positions.

Florida football is going to look different in Napier's second year at the helm, undoubtedly. Whether it will be improved or not remains to be seen, but the incoming transfers — the majority of them, at least — will be expected to push the Gators in the right direction sooner rather than later.

All Gators is projecting roles for every Florida transfer acquisition ahead of the 2023 season. Having previously covered quarterback Graham Mertz, running back Cameron Carroll, offensive tackles Damieon George Jr. and Kiyaunta Goodwin, guard Micah Mazzccua, and defensive linemen Caleb Banks and Cam'Ron Jackson, former Ohio State linebacker Teradja Mitchell is up next.

Two of Florida's most productive defenders in 2022 were inside linebackers Ventrell Miller and Amari Burney. Both are off to the NFL Draft after completing their college eligibility and combining for 153 tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss and six turnovers forced this past season.

Their departures left the Gators with a glaring hole in the middle of their defense entering the offseason. 

Burney's role is expected to primarily be filled by rising sophomore Shemar James, a frequent member of the linebacker rotation as a freshman who earned SEC All-Freshman team honors by season's end. He manned the weak-side 'backer spot behind Burney throughout the entire 2022 season.

Mitchell, meanwhile, will compete to replace Miller at middle linebacker and serve as the unit's lead communicator. 

He faces strong competition from rising fourth-year junior Derek Wingo, who closed the season as the starting MIKE when Miller was suspended for the first half against Florida State and didn't play versus Oregon State in the Las Vegas Bowl. 

Should Wingo win the position battle, Mitchell would at the very least rotate between the middle and weak-side linebacker positions with a snap share similar to James' a year ago. James averaged 28 defensive snaps per game as a freshman. 

But, after seeing his role decrease with the Buckeyes at the end of 2021 and missing the majority of the 2022 season due to injury, Mitchell will certainly fight for a spot on the first team once again. 

In his breakthrough 2021 campaign, Mitchell posted 45 tackles with 4.5 for loss and four quarterback pressures (per Pro Football Focus) in 12 games. He also collected two tackles in a special teams role.

Mitchell proved to be a solid downhill defender at Ohio State with positive contributions against the run and as a pass rusher. Where he had room to improve, though, was against the pass, as he allowed 78.6 percent of his 28 targets in coverage to be caught at 9.1 yards per reception, per PFF.

If anything, Mitchell will be a candidate to take the field on early downs to stop the run, especially in three off-ball linebacker sets with Wingo and James, similar to the trio of Miller, Burney and James a year ago.

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