With all new faces in Gainesville for the 2026 season, most of the focus has been on Florida’s QB battle. There has also been a lot of excitement surrounding Florida’s wide receivers and the potential the Gators have along the defensive line.
But there hasn’t been much buzz about Florida’s special teams unit, which will have a new look in 2026. On Friday, though, punter Alec Clark was named to the Ray Guy Award preseason Watch List, given to the best punter in the country.
Clark played at Tulane last year with Jon Sumrall and had an average of 46.5 yards per punt.
Clark is a redshirt junior who takes over this year for Tommy Doman, whom the Buffalo Bills drafted in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Graham Mertz might be done for the 2026 season
Former Gator Graham Mertz was hoping to move up as the backup QB for the Houston Texans in 2026. Mertz spent 2025 as their third-string QB, but he hoped a better preseason showing than last year could bump him up.
Unfortunately for Mertz, he went down with an injury after going 4/7 for 23 yards in Houston’s preseason opener. As of this writing, it hasn't been confirmed, but reports say Houston believes it is a torn ACL. Even more frustrating is that it happened in a non-contact situation while he was scrambling.
Injuries are becoming part of Mertz's narrative. In 2024, he tore his ACL against Tennessee, which ended his career with the Gators. That was coming off the heels of suffering a concussion to open the 2024 season and suffering a broken collarbone in the second-to-last game of the 2023 season.
Ben Shelton wins National Bank Open
Former Gator tennis star Ben Shelton continues to rise through the ranks in professional tennis. Currently ranked No. 6 in the world, Shelton cruised through the National Bank Open in Montreal to win his 7th career singles title and his third singles title of 2026.
Shelton beat Brandon Nakashima in the finals in straight sets to cap off a run to win the six-round tournament without dropping a single set.
Shelton is hoping to parlay this tournament into a strong run at the upcoming US Open. After reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open to open 2026, Shelton was bounced in the 2nd round of the French Open and in the 1st round of Wimbledon.
Shelton made the semifinals of the US Open in 2023, but has bowed out in the 3rd round the past two years.
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