Florida Gators Stock Report: Napier's Stock Rockets into Stratosphere

The Florida Gators upset a top-10 opponent - see whose stocks went up with the win

Stocks are up after the Gators win over Ole Miss / Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

The Florida Gators upset the Ole Miss Rebels, 24-17 to pick up their second-straight upset win against a ranked opponent. 

With that game heading to the win column, it’s time for the postgame stock report. As always, we’ll take a look at who saw their stock go up and who saw theirs drop for the week. 

Stock Up

Billy Napier 

If he gets flack when the Gators lose, then he’s earned the right to have credit when they win. Why? Because nothing matters more at the University of Florida than getting in the win column. He’s now beaten back-to-back ranked SEC teams, one of which is a top-10 opponent. The back half of the schedule was deemed a death sentence, and the Gators pulled off two upsets to earn a bowl berth. 

He still has growing to do as a head coach - there’s no denying it. There were plenty of flaws in this game. But they won. That’s already some growth. They don’t win this game earlier in the season - Lagway or no Lagway. I’m not holding Napier to a double standard. Florida’s looking better, so he gets to look better too. Stock goes up. 

Montrell Johnson Jr. 

After knocking this man in the stock report multiple times, he’s made me eat my words. Johnson rushed for 107 yards (averaging 5.9 per carry), and he got a touchdown. No other running back on the team rushed for half the total yards he had. 

There have been games this year that made him look obsolete. But the Gators needed him today, and he delivered. 

Caleb Banks

Another big day for the defensive lineman - arguably a career game where he outdid his performance against LSU. He picked up two and a half sacks, three and a half tackles for loss and forced an incompletion. 

The Gators defense continues to look the best its have in years, and these are the type of nights that reflect that progress. He’s quickly becoming a valuable member of the defensive line, and fortunately for the Gators, he’ll be around in 2025 too. 

Bryce Thornton

This is the first time a fourth player is in the "stocks up" section." When you have two game-altering interceptions, you force my hand to include you.

In the win over LSU, Thornton had a season high five tackles. He followed it up with 14 - nearly tripling his total. If you didn't know this guy before the last couple of weeks, you do now. Otherwise, I'm going to assume you're not watching.

Stock Down

Lane Kiffin 

This is the one time a member of the other team will be included. Given the history of the Gators head coaching situation this season, it’s warranted - and this is coming from a writer who was very much part of the talk. Kiffin’s stock as the future head coach of the Florida Gators has tumbled. 

Napier sticking around for next year doesn't impact this decision. There is a lot of symbolism that goes into this.

He lost to the guy that he theoretically was going to replace. Napier has to feel amazing about that. Both have seen the buzz all season and when the head-to-head match-up came, Napier was the victor. 

Ja’Kobi Jackson

Look, Jackson’s stock is up overall on the year. But it went down after this game. After averaging over six yards per carry the last three weeks, he rushed for just 2.6 yards per carry against Ole Miss. 

This also ended a three-week run of scoring a touchdown per game. This was a tight game against a tough opponent, and Jackson didn’t have a good day. He’ll likely bounce back against Florida State next week, but for this Saturday, his stock dips.