Florida football position power rankings for 2023
By Will Thomas
![Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier gestures alongside Florida Gators quarterback Graham Mertz (15), Florida Gators running back Montrell Johnson Jr. (2), and Florida Gators running back Trevor Etienne (7) during fall football practice at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, August 5, 2023. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2F480a5b26fd88c46cc6584e625d49514ed8d5ea53369dc6ed817b549db865e63c.jpg "Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier gestures alongside Florida Gators quarterback Graham Mertz (15), Florida Gators running back Montrell Johnson Jr. (2), and Florida Gators running back Trevor Etienne (7) during fall football practice at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, August 5, 2023. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]")
Florida football may have low expectations overall heading into 2023, but still has plenty of talent on its roster.
The Gators still recruit well relative to the rest of the country, and have a good bit of star power that will take the field this fall.
So naturally, the only thing to do is power rank each position group in a list that I’m sure everyone will agree with and nobody will have deferring opinions.
And no, I did not include special teams here.
Florida football position power rankings: No. 10, TE
I’m sure some people expected to see the quarterbacks here, and don’t worry, they’re coming up soon. But at the nine spot, I have the tight end group.
Billy Napier has been talking all offseason about the youth at that position, and how in order for them to be effective, they’ll need some new faces to step up.
The key contributions at TE will be the senior Keon Zipperer, Jonathan Odom, and Arlis Boardingham, who I expect to turn a lot of heads this year.
But overall, I don’t think there’s a lot of star power in this room, and I’m not sure they have a huge role in this year’s offense.
We all know it will be run-heavy. And when they do decide to throw the ball, Ricky Pearsall and the speedy freshman wideouts will get a majority of the target share.
Now the tight ends won’t be obsolete. Napier will still use them in short-yardage situations and in the red zone, but they won’t make a ton of noise in the grand scheme of the season.