Competing for national championships is something University of Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin has harped on throughout his near-decade-long tenure at UF. He’s made it abundantly clear that championships are the standard and that Gators football needs to see change in order to find success.
That all starts with building a championship-level roster.
As the Gators lost 34 players to the transfer portal and newly hired coach Jon Sumrall was tasked with bolstering Florida’s roster with new additions, here are five of their top offensive pickups of the 2026 transfer portal cycle:
WR Eric Singleton Jr.
Rated a four-star transfer in 247Sports’ transfer rankings, Singleton Jr. completed a solid junior year at Auburn in 2025. He hauled in 58 catches for 534 yards and three touchdowns for the Tigers, bringing his collegiate receiving total to 2,002 yards.
Singleton Jr. spent two years as Georgia Tech’s leading receiver and notched an impressive six-touchdown freshman season prior to joining Auburn. Now, he will be reunited with Florida’s newly hired offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner, who served as Georgia Tech’s OC for three seasons.
In his two years with Faulkner’s Yellow Jackets, Singleton Jr. averaged over 14 yards per catch, solidifying himself as a consistent vertical threat — something Florida’s offense sorely needs after limping out of its 2025 campaign averaging just 6.56 yards per passing attempt.
RB London Montgomery
There’s no question that Florida has its guy in the backfield. Rising junior Jadan Baugh solidified his position as the Gators’ lead back with a monster season in which he rushed for 1,170 yards and 10 total touchdowns, all without fumbling.
However, with four running backs departing from Gainesville via the portal — Ja’Kobi Jackson, KD Daniels, Treyaun Webb and Chad Gasper Jr. —- the Gators needed experienced bodies to complement their crown jewel in the backfield.
London Montgomery, the No. 10 running back in the portal per 247sports transfer rankings, just completed his second season at East Carolina University after a redshirt year at Penn State. As a redshirt sophomore, Montgomery solidified a role as the Pirates’ lead rusher, carrying the ball for 742 yards and seven touchdowns on 156 attempts in 2025.
Under Sumrall, Montgomery will join rising sophomore Duke Clark — who saw 15 carries as a freshman in 2025 — as a high-ceiling back to complement Baugh.
QB Aaron Philo
The departure of quarterback DJ Lagway was one of the most storied transfer movements of the cycle. With the slumping sophomore leaving Gainesville to try his hand as a Baylor Bear, Florida was forced to turn to the portal and add an experienced quarterback who could compete for the starting position that now sits wide open.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Aaron Philo joined the Gators after two seasons at Georgia Tech. Following a redshirt season in 2024, Philo completed 21 of 28 passes for 373 yards in 2025, including a touchdown and an interception. Throughout his two years, the Georgia native spent time playing under Faulkner and learning the coordinator’s offensive system, which could give him a leg up in the competition for the starting role.
Along with Philo, freshman Tramell Jones Jr. and incoming four-star Will Griffin will compete to be Florida’s starting quarterback under Sumrall in 2026.
TE Luke Harpring
Redshirt freshman tight end Luke Harpring is yet another top offensive addition who followed Faulkner from Georgia Tech. He caught 13 passes for 158 yards as a Yellow Jacket in 2025 and is ranked the No. 13 tight end in the portal by 247sports transfer rankings.
Given his history playing under Faulkner, Harpring should have a good chance at landing the starting spot, but will need to prove himself over rising redshirt sophomore Amir Jackson and fellow transfers Lacota Dippre from James Madison and Evan Chieca from New Haven.
WR Micah Mays Jr.
Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Micah Mays Jr. joins the Gators as the No. 51 receiver in the portal following three seasons at Wake Forest. Despite seeing the field in just four games as a true freshman, Mays totaled 520 yards, four touchdowns and 34 receptions across two seasons as a Demon Deacon.
With Florida watching eight receivers, including Eugene Wilson III and Aidan Mizell, walk out the door and into the portal, there will be plenty of room for Mays to complement Singleton, redshirt freshman TJ Abrams and rising sophomores Vernell Brown III and Dallas Wilson.
Though a high drop rate (10%+) and low contested catch rate (25%) plagued Mays’ production through his time at Wake Forest, his 16.8 yards per catch and 5.7 yards after catch per reception in 2025 highlight his potential as a big-play receiver who can gain significant yardage after the catch.
As Sumrall, Faulkner and the rest of Florida’s staff look to build a cohesive roster and explosive offense around Baugh and a young receiving corps, only time will tell how the Gators’ top transfers shake out in relation to UF’s national championship hopes in 2026 and beyond.
Contact Curan Ahern at cahern@alligator.org. Follow him on X at @CuranAhern.
Curan is a junior sports journalism student in his fourth semester at The Alligator. He is currently the sports desk's football and enterprise beat writer, and previously served as a reporter for men's tennis, sports enterprise and football. He is currently pursuing a public relations minor and is an avid Duval sports fan. (#DTWD)
