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While much of Florida’s offense has gone through the ground game in Billy Napier’s first two years at the helm of the Gators, there may be a need for the passing game to step it up in 2024.

Graham Mertz is entering his second season as Florida’s QB1 and his sixth year in college after an impressive 2023. While he has gotten Napier’s scheme down, Mertz will have to target more of a variety of receivers this season as his No. 1 man, Ricky Pearsall, was selected in the first round of the NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers.

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Even with big shoes to fill as the primary target, it seems like sophomore Eugene Wilson III is up to the task. In his freshman year at Florida, Wilson boasted a spectacular 61 catches for 538 yards and a team-high six touchdowns. The most explosive player on the Gators showed glimpses of greatness and will need to continue that for Florida to be successful this season.

Redshirt junior Kahleil Jackson was Mertz’s third favorite target in the wide receiver room in 2023 and is poised for a big fifth year with the Gators this fall. Jackson caught 21 passes for 251 yards and one touchdown last season and will look to build on those numbers this year.

While Wilson and Jackson are the two biggest-name receivers returning for Florida in 2024, two new faces promise to have big roles as well. Elijhah Badger, a transfer from Arizona State and two-time All-Pac-12 honorable mention receiver, put up incredible numbers in his final two years with the Sun Devils. He had 135 receptions for over 1,500 yards and 10 scores in the past two seasons. Badger, along with Mertz’s former teammate at Wisconsin Chimere Dike will fight for first-team reps at the wideout position. In his four years with the Badgers, Dike caught 97 passes for almost 1,500 years and 9 touchdowns.

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A handful of young, talented receivers will also look to get on the field in Napier’s offense this season. Andy Jean and Aidan Mizell, both redshirt freshmen, had little playing time last year but will look for bigger roles in 2024. They will have to compete against two true freshmen in Tank Hawkins from IMG Academy and TJ Abrams from Dunbar High School in Fort Myers.

This young core of wideouts will be assisted by veterans in the receiver room. Senior Ja’Quavion Fraziers and redshirt junior Marcus Burke who have both had meaningful playing time in their careers will be leaders in the locker room for the young guys to learn from.

As for the tight end position, it will be led by two returners in Arlis Boardingham and Hayden Hansen. Boardingham’s presence as a receiver cannot be overlooked by opposing defenses. He led the position group with 26 grabs for 289 yards and four touchdowns a season ago. Hansen doesn’t have the receiving skills Boardingham does, but makes up for it with his blocking ability. With that being said, Hansen put up a respectable 150 yards receiving with two scores in 2023.

While those two will be the primary tight-end targets once again this season, two newcomers in Caleb Rillos and Amir Jackson will look to get some snaps as well. Rillos is a graduate transfer from Air Force where he was mainly in for blocking in the military academy’s triple-option offense. Jackson, a freshman from Portal, GA, was the fifth-ranked tight end in the 2024 recruiting class by ESPN.

A few others who will look to get snaps at the tight end position are Keon Zipperer, Gavin Hill and Tony Livingston. Zipperer, who is entering his sixth season with the Gators missed last year with an injury. In his career, he has put up 38 catches for almost 500 yards and four touchdowns.

Even without the big-play ability of Pearsall, this group of wide receivers and tight ends may be the deepest that Napier has had in his tenure at Florida. They will need to put up big numbers this season against the toughest schedule in the country.