Florida Gators 2023 Recruits to Know: Wide Receiver
Now that the 2023 recruiting cycle is in full swing, Billy Napier and his staff will be looking to make significant strides from a year ago in hopes of improving the talent on the roster and landing some of the top talents in the country.
AllGators will dive into each of the positions and give you a look at early targets that have emerged for the Gators that are worth keeping an eye on. Today, the focus is on the wide receiver position.
RELATED: Florida Gators 2023 Recruits to Know: Quarterback
While you haven’t seen a large number of prospects tweet out that they have been “re-offered” by Florida’s new staff, which is usually customary with a complete staff turnover. There are a number of recruits that remain in daily contact with the staff and either already have an offer or could be getting one soon.
Though this list will give you a good idea of several prospects that Florida is high on, it will change as prospects cycle in and out over the course of the 2023 recruiting calendar.
Tyler Williams, Lakeland (Fla.)
This will start out with Williams for two reasons, one because he is a prospect that is in regular contact with the Gators coaching staff, and two, because of the pipeline that Florida has established at the high school dating back to the Urban Meyer days.
A two-sport star, Williams is an impressive-looking prospect standing at 6-foot-5, 190 pounds, and is just scratching the surface of what he can be at the position.
His junior year was his first at the position after primarily playing QB for Winter Haven HS the season prior. And while there aren’t any stats out to give you his season totals if you cut on the tape, you can see why the talented pass-catcher has nearly 40 offers.
While the Gators should focus on reeling in quicker slot-type receivers as they have a roster full of trees (tall, rangy receivers), you can’t pass up on someone with the skillset and potential of Williams. Especially when he goes to a Gator hotbed like Lakeland HS.
Eugene Wilson III, Gaither (Fla.)
As mentioned earlier, the Gators need to focus on adding speed, quickness, and route running to the wide receiver room, and Wilson brings exactly that.
Wilson, who is listed as an athlete, was recently offered by wide receivers coach Keary Colbert at the position and it’s easy to see why. He possesses everything I just mentioned above and more. Standing at just 5-foot-10, 165 pounds, you would never know it by the way he is able to go up and get the football at its highest point.
During his junior season, Wilson racked up 62 catches for 925 yards and seven touchdowns on offense. He also had four interceptions on defense and returned a kickoff for a touchdown as well. Once Wilson gets the ball in his hands there is little wasted movement, he gets it and absolutely goes. He is in daily contact with the Florida staff and has locked in a visit to Gainesville for the beginning of March.
Santana Fleming, American Heritage (Fla.)
Fleming, another speedy slot receiver measuring in at 5-foot-10, 160 pounds, is someone the Florida coaching staff, and more specifically, receivers coach Keary Colbert has been in constant contact with. While Fleming’s numbers during his junior season weren’t super impressive, 18 catches for 152 yards and two touchdowns, what he can do on the field is.
Fleming is quick, runs good routes and is another receiver that can help the Gators out in the slot. When Fleming gets the ball in his hands, he is explosive and can make plays after the catch.
Something that Florida Gators really missed after the loss of Kadarius Toney to the NFL over a season ago. Fleming also shares the field in high school with fellow blue-chip receiver Brandon Inniss who will appear on this list later.
Shelton Sampson Jr, Catholic (La.)
Sampson Jr. is as dynamic a receiver as they come. Standing at 6-foot-4, 184 pounds and clocking a 4.3 40-yard dash a year ago, Sampson gives you everything you look for in a receiver.
With his height, he has the ability to go up over smaller defenders and does so regularly in his highlight tape. But with the 4.3 speed, he can also run right past them, which is also shown regularly. Hailing from Baton Rouge, home of the LSU Tigers, Sampson is someone that will be an uphill battle.
But with the connections to Louisiana that the staff has and the attitude of big game hunting that they seem to display his definitely someone they will make a run at.
Brandon Inniss, American Heritage (Fla.)
The former Oklahoma commit is a prospect that many consider the top wide receiver in the country. Standing at 6-foot, 190 pounds, he already has a college-ready frame. He is versatile and can work from the outside or out of the slot and has some of the best hands I have ever seen in person.
He very developed as a route runner at this stage in his career and displays a football IQ far past his age. While he doesn’t possess the top end speed ala Sampson, he is explosive out of his breaks and has good enough speed to pick up chunks of yards after the catch and even take it the distance.
Inniss racked up 1,253 total yards and 11 touchdowns as he was thrust into the QB role during the season, so we didn’t really get to see a full year of him as a receiver. However, he is a prospect that every school in the country is after and for good reason, he is one of the top players in the nation regardless of position.
He has a visit scheduled with the Gators for March 6.
Daquayvious Sorey, Chipley (Fla.)
The recent UGA decommit has held a Florida offer since his freshman year in high school and is the cousin of former five-star recruit Xavian Sorey, so naturally many people thought that the UGA commitment would stick, but that was obviously not the case.
Sorey is an impressive-looking prospect standing at 6-foot-2, 185 pounds with the ability to play either outside receiver or slot.
He does a good job making plays once the ball is in his hands like a lot of the prospects on this list. He routinely takes short passes for big gains totaling 753 yards of offense and eight touchdowns as a junior, including 546 receiving yards.
Bryson Rogers, Wiregrass Ranch (Fla.)
Rogers is a prospect that when things were going well under the previous staff looked to be on commit watch for Florida early last season. Well, things didn’t end up that way, the previous staff was fired, and Rogers’s recruitment picked up.
Now schools like Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia and Oregon, along with Florida are recruiting the 6-foot-2, 175-pound pass-catcher. Even at his height, I think Rogers is a prospect that fits really well in the slot at the next level.
He had an impressive junior season pilling up 42 receptions for 645 yards and an eye-popping 17 touchdowns. Bryson has good speed, runs good routes and just has a nose for the endzone.
Rogers is from a Gator-friendly area just outside of Tampa and will definitely be one to monitor as he has been re-offered by the new staff and has a visit to Alabama locked in for March.
Aidan Mizell, Boone (Fla.)
From a sheer number standpoint, Mizell had the best junior season on this list, racking up 47 catches for 1,003 yards and 18 touchdowns. When you watch Mizell’s film there is one thing that really jumps out: speed.
That makes sense given that both of his parents ran track at Florida, where his mom earned All-American honors. However, Mizell is the only prospect on this list not to have an offer from Florida from either the previous staff or current.
At 6-foot-2, 180 pounds, he has the frame to fill out into a formidable pass-catcher from either the slot or on the outside and can really make things happen with the ball in his hands.
He already possesses around 30 offers from schools like Alabama, Georgia, LSU and USC. And while he does have the offer from Florida yet, they are in communication with him so I would expect that to change future.
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