Florida football: Gators August and September report card

Wide Receivers

Entering the 2019 season, the Gators arguably have its greatest core of wide receivers since the 2008 national championship team.

Redshirt-senior Van Jefferson was Florida’s go-to target in the passing game in 2018, catching a team-high 35 passes for 503 yards and six touchdowns. Trevon Grimes, a junior who transferred to Florida from Ohio State last season, caught 26 passes for 364 yards and two touchdowns.

Both transfer wide receivers from last season return alongside seniors Tyrie Cleveland, Josh Hammond, Freddie Swain, and junior Kadarius Toney. This quartet of receivers alone combined for 1,106 receiving yards on 85 catches, including 13 touchdowns.

Toney, who was gifted the no. 1 jersey this season by the coaches due to his playmaking abilities, also ran for 240 yards in 2018 off of just 21 carries. Since transitioning from playing quarterback in high school, Toney has emerged as Florida’s most productive utility player on offense since Trey Burton and his versatility has been compared to Percy Harvin.

This talented group of receivers would be tested early in Orlando against the nation’s best pass defense in 2018. While quarterback Feleipe Franks was wildly inconsistent throughout the game, there were some electrifying moments that came from the receivers.

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After converting an early 4th down off of a fake punt on Florida’s first drive, Toney would catch a screen pass of the right side from Franks and scamper 66 yards down the field for Florida’s first score of the season. Midway through the fourth quarter trailing 20-17, Hammond would catch a clutch 65-yard strike down the field to set up a Franks touchdown run three plays later.

The group would only catch 11 balls off of 21 pass attempts. Three would be caught by sophomore tight end Kyle Pitts.

After two weeks to recover from a grueling in-state showdown, the receivers would get a reprieve in the Swamp against Tennessee Martin. Florida football receivers caught 26 passes for 293 yards against the Skyhawks. Jefferson led the way for the unit with 94 yards off four catches, including a deep 69-yard touchdown grab early in the second quarter.

Cleveland would also make the highlight reel with his first touchdown of 2019 off a 35-yard strike from Franks late in the first half. Redshirt-freshman Jacob Copeland would also get his first career touchdown early in the 4th quarter after an 8-yard pass from Kyle Trask.

The lone, yet costly, downside for the Gators receiving core against Tennessee Martin came in the first quarter when Toney exited the game with a shoulder injury. He has not returned to the Gators lineup since the injury. While the Gators have enough depth to cover his loss in the passing game, his presence has been missed in the ground game.

While the Gators running backs struggled to build any momentum in Lexington, the opposite could be said for Florida’s receivers.

Jefferson led the group in receptions for a second straight week, catching seven balls for 93 yards. Swain caught four passes for 57 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown pass from Franks in the first quarter.

Meanwhile, Josh Hammond had the biggest highlight reel from the unit that evening, but not for his play catching abilities.

With Florida only up one point with under a minute to go on a crucial 3rd and 6, Hammond’s number would be called on a jet sweep. Thanks to excellent blocking along the right side, Hammond would turn on the afterburners and rocket his way 76 yards to put the dagger into the hearts of Kentucky fans.

As a whole, the Florida receivers would account for 277 yards off 18 catches. This would prove to be a mass improvement from the receivers from their previous match up with the Wildcats, as the unit only accounted for 155 yards off 12 catches in 2018.

Aside from two long touchdown grabs from Cleveland and Swain, the Gators receivers had a quiet performance against Tennessee in 2018 with only nine catches for 185 yards. Yet with a new quarterback in the pocket against a pass defense ranked 96th in the country, the receivers would turn this showdown among division rivals into a field day.

Pitts emerged as a security blanket for Trask, catching four passes for 62 yards, including a 19-yard touchdown pass on Florida’s first offensive drive. Swain would make it two straight seasons on the highlight reel against the Vols, securing a 29-yard touchdown pass up the middle midway into the third quarter.

Florida receivers would combine for 295 yards receiving off 19 catches. Their on-field success would carry over into the following week against Towson.

The receiving core would catch 23 passes from Trask and Jones for a combined 248 receiving yards. While Cleveland and Grimes led the team in receiving yards with 59 and 55, respectively, the story of this group were two of Florida’s most skilled tight ends.

Pitts once again proved to be a vital security blanket in the passing game for Florida, primarily in the red zone. Pitts hauled in two receiving touchdowns from Trask, with both coming at the beginning of each half.

Freshman tight end Keon Zipperer also demonstrated how much of an asset he could be in the future for Florida’s passing game. Early in the fourth quarter, with Jones at quarterback, Zipperer sealed a seven-play, 69-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown off a screen. On the pursuing possession deep in the Florida football red zone, Zippered caught a short pass off the right side and broke through two defenders to run 25 yards down the field.

Both tight ends would combine for 59 yards receiving off seven catches, with three of them resulting in Florida touchdowns.

Through five games there are four Florida receivers that have caught at least 14 passes and have hauled in 175 yards receiving.

Jefferson has showcased his talents to NFL scouts so far this season with 248 receiving yards off 18 catches and will likely be drafted during the first two days of the draft this upcoming April.

Pitts is currently on pace to becoming Florida’s most productive pass-catching tight end since DeAndre Goolsby in 2016, with three receiving touchdowns off 17 catches. All of his touchdowns have come in Florida’s last two games, as he has developed into Trask’s most reliable red-zone target.

As Florida prepares to venture deeper into its conference schedule beginning with Auburn, Mullen and his coaching staff will hope for continued positive production from this receiving core.

Grade: A-