Florida Football: Xzavier Henderson joins list of 2020 departures

The knock against Dan Mullen during his time with Florida football was that his recruiting was lackluster and wasn’t good enough to get the Gators over the hump.

To some extent the label wasn’t 100% fair, but what is clear is that even his recruiting classes that were ranked high never quite materialized on the field.

Florida Football: Another one bites the dust

News came out yesterday that Xzavier Henderson was entering the transfer portal. The wide receiver out of Miami was one of the top signings in Florida’s class of 2020.

As the brother of CJ Henderson with legit track speed, the hopes and expectations for Xzavier we’re high when he arrived in Gainesville.

Except Henderson never had his breakout moment during his three years with Florida. 2022 was his most productive season, catching 38 passes for 410 yards and two touchdowns, but one has to feel there are a number of recivers that could equal that production.

Speed was supposed to be his calling card, yet it never felt like he was getting behind opposing secondaries with regularity.

Compare that to incoming freshman Aiden Mizell who got behind the secondary on the first snap of the Spring Game (yes there is the caveat it was the second-team defense).

This isn’t so much about Henderson never reaching his full potential, this is about the entire class of 2020 failing to do so. That group was rated as the 9th-best class in the nation by 247 Sports, so while it was lacking compared to Georgia it was not still talented enough it shouldn’t put back-to-back 6-7 seasons together.

Of the 24 commitments from that class, only seven still remain just three years later. Anthony Richardson, Gervon Dexter, and Rashad Torrence have all declared for the draft, but 14 of the 24 commitments from 2020 have transferred out.

So just keep in mind as we get excited about Billy Napier’s class of 2024 that rankings are nice, but at some point they actually have to play.