Whenever commentary on Billy Napier’s offense was in full swing, one of the biggest critiques was his inefficient use of his tight ends. As we here at Hail Florida Hail commented on a ton, Napier insisted on using two tight-end sets even though he didn’t really have the top-level tight ends to justify their usage.
So it is interesting that most of the chatter around the offense Florida and Buster Faulkner plan to employ in 2026 won’t be as tight-end heavy despite the fact the Gators have two of the higher rated tight ends in the SEC.
Florida has two top-rated tight ends for 2026
Pro Football Focus put out a graphic on social media that highlighted the top ten rated returning tight ends in the SEC for 2026. Coming in as the No. 3 rated returning tight end in the SEC is Lacota Dippre (72.0), and coming in at No. 10 is Luke Harpring (65.6).
Highest Graded Returning SEC Tight Ends🔥 pic.twitter.com/kfliUl3hli
— PFF College (@PFF_College) July 29, 2026
There are a few significant grains of salt to consider when looking at this chart. The first is that neither was with the Gators in 2025, and neither played in the SEC. Dippre comes over from James Madison, while Harping was with Faulkner at Georgia Tech. The other is the ongoing debate over how accurate PFF’s grades are, especially when compared against other players.
But even if one doesn’t find PFF’s grades to be 100% accurate, we have found over the years that they are generally within a range that feels mostly correct. Hayden Hansen, who transferred to Oklahoma in the offseason, was graded out as a 52.7 last year. That’s not that far off where we would have graded him at times.
More notable is that this chart doesn’t factor in Amir Jackson, the former top 100 overall prospect who a lot of people feel is going to be a great fit for Faulkner’s offense and who emerged from spring camp as Florida’s main receiving tight end, with Dippre being the main blocking tight end.
It’s also a reminder that the SEC doesn’t really have a dominant tight end heading into the 2026 season, and the depth of the position across the board in the conference isn’t anything crazy. So for Florida to have three potential starting tight ends who could all hold their own in the SEC might give the Gators a leg up, even if it is not a position group that has received a ton of publicity in the offseason.
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