![Florida Gators wide receiver J. Michael Sturdivant (9) looks on during spring football practice at Heavener Football Complex at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL on Thursday, March 6, 2025. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_3952,h_2223/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/213/01jyeapr5926nn5t9c8x.jpg "Florida Gators wide receiver J. Michael Sturdivant (9) looks on during spring football practice at Heavener Football Complex at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL on Thursday, March 6, 2025. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]")
CBS Sports recently ran a list of the one transfer for each team who could "swing their playoff hopes" and listed wide receiver J. Michael Sturdivant as the player who could make or break the Florida Gators in 2025.
Beyond Florida not having many options to choose from, it's also not unfair to state that Sturdivant comes to Gainesville as the ultimate wildcard ahead of the 2025 season.
Will the real J. Michael Sturdivant please stand up
Sturdivant transferred to Florida from UCLA this past offseason and was basically the only player of note that Billy Napier landed out of the portal. When you watch the highlights of Studivant, it is easy to start dreaming of a player who can easily fill the void that Elijhah Badger left behind.
Sturdivant has the ability to stretch the field and has the size to be a menace in the red zone. Anytime a clip of his training came out during the spring, he looked explosive and could be a perfect complement to DJ Lagway.
There is just one slight problem heading into the 2025 campaign:
Sturdivant seldom caught the ball in 2024.
It's no secret that he had just 22 catches and 315 yards in 2024. That followed a respectable but not Earth-shattering 36 catches for 596 yards in 2023, and that season was in a Chip Kelly-led offense.
As we have highlighted before, it's not just the 315 yards that raises concerns. Sturdivant's yards per route run (total yards divided by number of passing snaps on the field) and his reception rate (catches divided by targets) in 2024 were both in the bottom third of the country.
He was recently asked on Gators Breakdown what led to the dip in stats, and while Sturdivant didn't throw his teammates under the bus, he did make a passing reference to allude that the ball just wasn't thrown his way.
He won't have that problem in 2025, as he will get more than his fair share of opportunities from Lagway. If Sturdivant is who his highlights say he is, Florida might just make a run at the playoffs in 2025.
If Sturdivant is who his metrics say he is, Florida might be starting down another 8-5 season.