There’s not a lot of national buzz surrounding Florida football this offseason, but On3’s JD PicKell believes the Gators could surprise in 2024. Florida has not had a winning season since 2020 as it prepares to enter the third season under coach Billy Napier.
The Gators also face one of the toughest schedules in the country with games against Florida State, Miami, Texas, Georgia, LSU and more. That combined with their recent performances doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in them to make much noise in the SEC.
However, PicKell explained why he wouldn’t be so quick to count them out in a Monday appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show.
“My thing with Florida is I feel like they have a lot of makings that you just need to win in the SEC,” he said. “Now, the schedule is brutal. There’s no denying that. But you look across the college football landscape and the teams that win? Well, they have somebody stable at quarterback. We sat here last offseason and everybody was talking about what Graham Mertz did at Wisconsin, how bad he was, and how it was such a mistake for Florida to take him in the portal. Then he throws for like 20 touchdowns, three interceptions, and over 3,000 yards.
“Then last year’s defense and this year’s defense look drastically different. They got much older on that side of the football. I think one of the best playmakers in the conference is Eugene Wilson for them at receiver. He’s going to be a true sophomore.”
Mertz had the best season of his career this past year in Gainesville to throw for 2,903 yards, 20 touchdowns and three interceptions. Wilson was his second-leading receiver as a true freshman to haul in 61 catches for 538 yards and a team-high six touchdowns.
Now with Ricky Pearsall on to the NFL, Wilson should have a chance to build upon that success. Many also believe Mertz can see improvement as he enters is second year in the offensive system.
Expectations should still be tempered for Florida entering 2024. However PicKell believes we might look at them a bit differently if they were in another league besides the SEC.
“I think there’s a lot that’s still up in the air about Florida,” he said. “But I think, if you were to drop them into the ACC or the Big 12, would their odds to win either one of those conference be somewhere near the top-tier for both sides? I’m curious what they’re going to be in the SEC. The schedule does them no favors. I think they’ve got a lot of pieces. I think social media is maybe having a little too much fun with the Gators.”
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