Florida football: Which freshmen have had the greatest impact?
By Will Thomas
![Florida safety Jordan Castell (14) celebrates after making a play during a football game between Tennessee and Florida at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Fla., on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023. Florida safety Jordan Castell (14) celebrates after making a play during a football game between Tennessee and Florida at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Fla., on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023.](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/45cee9bfb3b5e7ff6ffac082bedac0246465ea741fcf39935a68ba90a6dc10cb.jpg)
Florida football is undergoing a bit of a youth movement in year two under Billy Napier.
There are very few upperclassmen on the starting depth chart week in and week out, at least relative to where the program used to be.
There are also a handful of true freshmen who have come in and immediately made an impact on the Gators.
Here are the top five freshmen who have made a name for themselves early on in the season.
Florida football true freshmen No. 5: T.J. Searcy
Searcy, out of Thomaston, Georgia, was a member of a legendary defensive line haul for UF in the 2023 cycle.
So far, T.J. has made the biggest impact out of all of them. When he’s on the field, something about him just looks different.
He’s quicker, agile, and more violent than a lot of the other guys out there, including the players who have been here for a couple of years.
He was ranked as the 23rd-best EDGE rusher in the 2023 class but has played like a top-ten player at his position so far.
Searcy has seen action in every game with six tackles thus far in his young career. If the Gators didn’t already have a lethal tandem off the edge in Princely Umanmielen and Tyreak Sapp, Searcy would probably be a starter.
But for now, he’ll benefit from having the pressure off of him and just take this fall to continue to develop and learn from the older guys ahead of him.
T.J. is providing the Gators’ DL with very valuable depth at a position that took a hit when Justus Boone as lost for the year in fall camp.
He’ll only get better as the weeks and years go on.