Coming into the 2025 season, Aidan Mizell was one of the players that most Florida Gator fans felt was in a make-or-break year. Despite coming to Gainesville with a high recruiting profile and showing flashes on the field, Mizell had yet to crack the main wide receiver rotation.
Despite being in line to be a starting receiver in the spring, Mizell has once again been relegated to the back, and most fans are starting to wonder why he can't see more of the field.
Aidan Mizell plays 14 snaps against LSU
Billy Napier was asked about Mizell on Monday after the redshirt sophomore hauled in the lone touchdown the Gators had against LSU and had a PFF grade of 88.7:
"(Aidan) played more on Saturday, and I thought he was productive. Aidan, when he's available, he's been impactful. That's one of the keys for him to continue to be successful."
One slight problem, he litteraly played less on Saturday. After being hurt for the opener against LIU, Mizell took 18 snaps against USF.
Against LSU, it was 14 snaps.
Remember back in August when Mizell stated, "If you're still sleeping on me, that's on y'all."
It's not the fans sleeping on Mizell, it's litteraly his own coaches who don't seem impressed.
After redshirting in 2023, Mizell looked dangerous every time he touched the field in 2024. He had notable touchdowns against Samford and Georgia, and should have had a highlight reel touchdown against Mississippi State that was called back for a questionable flag.
But as we pointed out all offseason when the topic of Mizell came up, he was also losing snaps to Marcus Burke by the end of last season. So even though he is productive when on the field, for some reason, that isn't catching the eye of the staff.
Napier himself said prior to the season that:
"We know that he's a really good player as a run-after-catch player, as a vertical-stretch player. He's capable in those areas, those are his strengths, but I think he needs to continue to develop as a route runner, just the entire route tree inside and outside, and then those things I mentioned before. He brings a lot of great things to the table, but I think he'll need to continue to work hard on some of those areas where he needs to improve."
For what it is worth, there are 551 wide receivers around the country who have had at least five targets this year. Mizell is 66th in yards per route run (receiving yards relative to the number of passing snaps on the field), putting him in the 89th percentile.
J. Michael Sturdivant, the UCLA transfer who has been slotted ahead of Mizell, is 467th in this same metric, which is in line with his metrics in 2024.
If Mizell is still under 20 snaps against Miami, then we don't know what it is going to take for him to see the field more in 2025.