Florida Football: Gators miss out on Justus Ross-Simmons as he commits to Syracuse

One of the areas Florida Football could benefit from an upgrade is at wide receiver. While Tre Wilson is set to become a star in college football in 2024, his supporting cast of pass catchers are filled with many unknowns and question marks.

The Gators thought they had one of their prime targets in the transfer portal lined up for a visit this weekend, but last night those plans fell apart.

Florida Football: On To The Next One

We profiled Justus Ross-Simmons earlier in the week and noted the Colorado State wide receiver was planning on visiting Gainesville this weekend. Ross-Simmons, a native of Rochester, New York, caught 45 passes for 745 yards last season and was seen as someone who could compete as an outside option to compliment Wilson in the slot.

Alas it wasn't meant to be and Ross-Simmons posted on his Instagram last night that he will be committing to Syracuse, where he took a visit last weekend.

In addition to Syracuse being much closer to his home, Blake Alderman of 247 hinted that transcript issues would make getting Ross-Simmons accepted into Florida complicated.

Whatever the reason, it leaves Florida at square one with their wide receiver room. Beyond Wilson, Florida will be looking at someone from the group of Kahleil Jackson, Marcus Burke, Chimere Dike, Aidan Mizell, Andy Jean, Tank Hawkins, and Ja'Quavion Fraziars to step up. There are certainly narratives to be crafted on how two or three of these could emerge in 2024, and all will be fine.

It is also true that narratives can be crafted that Florida is going to enter 2024 with a completely unproven wide receiver room, forcing Gator fans to rely on hope rather than something concrete. The seven receivers mentioned above had a combined 843 yards receiving in 2023. Ross-Simmons had 745 by himself.