![Florida Gators wide receiver Eugene Wilson III (3) runs for a touchdown during the second half to make it 38-7 after the extra point at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, September 7, 2024 against the Samford Bulldogs. The Florida Gators won 45-7 over the Bulldogs. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_3156,h_1775/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/213/01jc0snc6sfpnyfkenk0.jpg "Florida Gators wide receiver Eugene Wilson III (3) runs for a touchdown during the second half to make it 38-7 after the extra point at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, September 7, 2024 against the Samford Bulldogs. The Florida Gators won 45-7 over the Bulldogs. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]")
Coming into the 2024 season, most fans would have pegged Eugene Wilson as one of the key contributors if Florida Football was going to have a good season. The sophomore wide receiver had a productive freshman campaign with over 500 yards receiving, and there was hope among Florida fans that if he could be unlocked, he could get to 800 yards or beyond.
Well, that never happened. His role in the offense stayed the same, and now, due to injuries, his 2024 campaign has come to an end prematurely.
Florida Football: The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same
It was announced that Wilson underwent hip surgery this week and is officially done for the 2024 season. It bookends an up-and-down season that can only be categorized as disappointing due to factors beyond his control.
In our season preview, we had noted that one of the goals for Florida was to get Wilson deeper down the field. Back in August, we said:
"Of the 153 wide receivers with at least 70 targets in 2023, Wilson's average depth of target of 2.8 yards (in other words, Wilson was 2.8 yards off the line of scrimmage when targeted) was the least in the country. And while Wilson had the 18th most average yards after the catch, his overall yards per reception was the third least in the country.
Based on what we are seeing early in training camp, it is not like Wilson is incapable of making contested catches down the field, even though he was only credited with two contested catches in 2023. During practice this week, he was seen leaping over Sharif Denson to make a catch in the endzone."
Well, Wilson did double his ADOT to 6.0 yards per target. However, of the 377 wide receivers who have at least 25 targets in 2024, Wilson has the 11th shortest ADOT in the country.
Wilson looked visibly frustrated during the Samford game. Even though DJ Lagway was chucking it deep, Wilson was stuck doing 17 orbit motions with no pathway to go down the field. He did later have a long touchdown off a jet sweep in that same game, so it surprised fans when he was ruled out of the Texas A&M game the following week due to a knee injury.
He missed the subsequent games against Mississippi State and UCF before returning against Tennessee and Kentucky. He had five catches for 35 yards against Tennessee with an ADOT of 5.4 yards. He did have one deep catch against Kentucky for 40 yards.
Billy Napier had hinted in the lead-up to the Georgia game that Wilson wasn't 100% but didn't indicate there was anything that would knock him out of the game, so fans were once again surprised when he was ruled out of the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. It came out that Wilson had a congenital issue with his hip that led to him getting surgery.
Since Wilson played in just four games in 2024, he will get to retain his redshirt and will be a redshirt sophomore for the 2025 season.