On Jan. 2, the doors to the collegiate transfer portal burst open. Programs and athletes found themselves with two full weeks — until Jan. 16 — to make changes they felt could bring them one step closer to producing a championship-caliber unit.
For some schools, the portal brought in a slew of roster-bolstering talents vying for a fresh start. For others, the two-week window was filled with question marks as teams’ top athletes were forced to make difficult personal decisions about their futures and were often poached by rival schools.
In 2026, the Gators lost 34 players to the portal but picked more than 20 new additions in hopes of strengthening their roster under first-year Florida head coach Jon Sumrall.
Fueled by new additions and stunning commitment flips, the transfer portal in today’s era of Name, Image and Likeness payments has created a college sports world where programs increasingly rely on the transfer portal to make or break their dreams of a National Championship run.
After another busy fortnight that saw changes in loyalty, commitment flips and legacy players deciding to stay home, here’s how Florida football’s offense stacks up after the transfer portal cycle.
Strengths:
Wide receivers:
Arguably, no part of Florida’s overall roster has a better combination of skill and depth than its wide receivers room. Leading the way are Vernell Brown III and Dallas Wilson, who showed flashes of excellence in their freshman seasons.
Brown, a Freshman All-SEC selection, paced the Gators with 40 catches and 512 receiving yards. Among freshman wideouts who saw at least 20% of their team’s targets, Brown nationally ranked sixth in receptions, 13th in receiving yards and fifth in yards after catch (277).
Meanwhile, Wilson, who was limited to only four games due to injury, showcased his dominance in UF’s victory over Texas Oct. 4. In that game, he grabbed six passes for 111 yards and two touchdowns. Overall, his 6.8 yards after catch per reception ranked tied for 11th among freshman wideouts who saw at least 20 targets, placing him just behind Brown (6.9).
With the departures of Eugene Wilson III, Naeshaun Montgomery and Tank Hawkins to the transfer portal, Sumrall and his staff heavily prioritized the receiver position in the portal. Then, on Jan. 10, the Gators landed a big fish: Eric Singleton Jr., the No. 40 overall player and No. 7 wideout in the portal, per On3’s rankings.
Singleton spent the first two years of his collegiate career at Georgia Tech under the coaching of new UF offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner and inside wide receivers coach Trent McKnight. Over 2023 and 2024, Singleton had a combined 104 receptions for 1,468 yards and nine touchdowns.
He transferred to Auburn for the 2025 season, where he recorded 58 receptions but only totaled 534 receiving yards. In his lone season with the Tigers, 78.8% of his targets were either behind the line of scrimmage or between zero and nine yards. He had never exceeded the 50% threshold in either of his seasons with the Yellow Jackets.
Behind Brown, Wilson and Singleton, the Gators have numerous options who could factor into the receiver rotation.
Georgia Tech transfer Bailey Stockton has experience in Faulkner’s system, while Oklahoma State transfer Jaylen Lloyd and Wake Forest transfer Micah Mays Jr. both have unique skills. Also, rising sophomore TJ Abrams and incoming freshmen Davian Groce and Marquez Daniel were all highly touted recruits with plenty of potential.
Running backs:
Leading not only the running back room but UF’s offense as a whole, Jadan Baugh is expected to be one of the nation’s top ball carriers in 2026.
In 2025, the rising junior finished third in the Southeastern Conference and 18th in the country with 1,168 rushing yards. He also tied for eighth in the nation with 65 missed tackles forced, and he was one of five runners to record over 1,000 yards without fumbling.
Overall, Baugh’s 87.7 Pro Football Focus grade rated him as the best Gator player in the 2025 season among those who appeared in at least four games.
Behind Baugh, Florida saw plenty of turnover in the running backs room as KD Daniels, Ja’Kobi Jackson, Treyaun Webb and Chad Gasper Jr. all entered the transfer portal. However, two talented backs and a crucial retention are set to compete for carries under new running backs coach Chris Foster.
Cincinnati transfer Evan Pryor and East Carolina transfer London Montgomery had nearly identical overall PFF grades in 2025, but their playstyles are unique.
Pryor, who posted a 73.8 PFF grade, is a tough runner who thrives after contact. He averaged 4.20 yards after contact per rushing attempt, which ranked 31st in the nation. He is also an efficient back, as his 6.9 yards per attempt was tied for 18th among qualified runners in 2025.
Meanwhile, Montgomery, who earned a 73.3 PFF grade last season, has plenty of experience in a zone-concept scheme, the preferred scheme for Foster. His 110 zone-concept carries were tied for 32nd in the nation in 2025.
While Pryor and Montgomery bring plenty of experience to the running back room, Duke Clark showed flashes when given opportunities during his debut season. The Tampa native averaged 2.67 yards after contact per rushing attempt.
Weaknesses:
Quarterbacks:
The biggest question surrounding Jon Sumrall’s team in 2026 is who will be under center.
DJ Lagway, who many expected to be the Gators’ long-term starting quarterback, entered the transfer portal Dec. 16 after a disappointing 2025 season. He officially committed to Baylor Jan. 18.
With Lagway out of the picture, the battle for Florida’s starting spot looks to be a two-man race, with both players having certain advantages over the other.
Rising redshirt freshman Tramell Jones Jr. served as Lagway’s primary backup in 2025 and made two appearances. He completed 60% of his passes for 191 yards and two touchdowns over four quarters of play against Long Island and Kentucky.
Jones’ completion percentage was hit negatively by five drops from the UF receiving core. Without those drops, his 78.8% adjusted completion rate ranked third among true freshman quarterbacks who had at least 40 dropbacks.
The Jacksonville native has also built rapport with Florida’s weapons through plenty of practice time. That could give the 6-foot QB a leg up in the competition.
Georgia Tech transfer Aaron Philo is expected to compete with Jones for the starting job. Over the past two seasons, Philo has been coached by Faulkner and has been developed as a future high-level starter.
Now, the Bogart, Georgia, native follows his offensive coordinator to Gainesville, where he will immediately have a chance at earning the first-team position.
Philo appeared in eight games for the Yellow Jackets over the past two seasons, completing 57.8% of his passes for 938 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. He also recorded 95 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries.
He recorded PFF grades of 91.3 and 76.3 in 2024 and 2025, respectively. In 2024, he made seven big-time throws, which is good for a 9.5% BTT, according to the site. He also made just one turnover-worthy play, accounting for 1.3% of his throws.
However, seven of Philo’s passes were dropped by receivers in 2024, a staggering 15.6% drop rate on his throws. This brought down his completion percentage from an adjusted 64.3% to 51.4%.
Neither Jones nor Philo has proven himself as a high-level starting quarterback, but if Florida wants to find itself back on the road to success, it needs either Jones or Philo to break out.
Tight ends:
Ever since former Mackey Award winner Kyle Pitts departed for the NFL after the 2020 season, the Gators have failed to replace his production at the tight end position.
Meanwhile, Florida’s two most productive tight ends from last season, Hayden Hansen and Tony Livingston, both entered the transfer portal.
Sumrall and his staff brought in two players from the portal and retained another, all of whom could reasonably be expected to see important snaps in 2026.
A familiar face for Faulkner is Georgia Tech transfer Luke Harpring. Over the past two seasons, the rising redshirt sophomore grabbed 16 passes for 201 yards while serving as a complementary piece in the Yellow Jackets’ offense.
Another addition via the portal was James Madison’s Lacota Dippre. In 2025, the rising junior recorded 17 catches for 192 yards and three touchdowns. He also excelled as a blocker, earning a 69.0 pass blocking grade and a 71.3 run blocking grade, per PFF.
The Gators also retained rising redshirt sophomore Amir Jackson. In 15 appearances for UF, Jackson has appeared primarily as a special teamer. He made three catches in 2025, but he scored a touchdown against Texas A&M.
All three players have not been ultra-productive as of yet, but they will likely have a chance to make an impact in 2026.
Contact Curan Ahern at cahern@alligator.org. Follow him on X at @CuranAhern.
Contact Max Bernstein at mbernstein@alligator.org. Follow him on X @maxbernstein23.
Max is a junior sports journalism student in his seventh semester at The Alligator. He serves as The Alligator's assistant sports editor and football beat coordinator. He previously served as The Alligator's sports editor and as a reporter for football, women's tennis, volleyball, lacrosse and sports enterprise. He also has made multiple appearances on the Paul Finebaum Show. Max wants to shoutout his cats, Scooter and Zoe, and niche former Florida Panthers players (shoutout Maxim Mamin).
Curan is a third-year journalism-sports & media major who currently serves as the football beat reporter for The Alligator, now in his third semester with the paper. When not at his computer screen writing, Curan enjoys spending time outdoors, hanging with friends, family and pets, and watching the Patriots lose (no, he doesn't miss Brady).
