Tre Wilson’s first LSU deep-ball highlight is a painful reminder for Florida fans

If there were a single player symbolic of the misuse of talent during the Billy Napier era, it would be Tre Wilson. For three years, we kept waiting for Wilson to be given the green light to do anything besides 50 orbit motions a game, but Napier seemed hell-bent on never letting Wilson run a route downfield.

After Napier was fired, we saw a brief glimpse of what Wilson was capable of, only for him to get hurt, miss the rest of 2025, and then transfer to LSU in the offseason.

Now in Baton Rouge, a clip from training camp indicates the Tigers might use Wilson in a way that Napier never seemed willing to do.

Tre Wilson proves he can catch passes down the field

The clip LSU posted is an otherwise standard clip that could be copied and pasted from any team account during fall camp. The clip features QB Husan Longstreet, a former five-star from the class of 2025 who transferred from USC to LSU in the offseason, throwing a deep shot to Wilson.

To the untrained eye, it’s a solid over-the-shoulder catch from Wilson that goes fo a touchdown.

For Florida fans, however, there is a feeling of “Oh, so he can do that.”

We should rephrase that. Florida fans knew he could do that; Napier didn’t seem to know that.

To give an idea of how seldom Wilson was allowed to go downfield under Napier, of the 444 wide receivers in 2025 who had at least 30 targets, Wilson had the 44th lowest ADOT in the country (Average Depth of Target, AKA how far down the field he was when targeted). In 2024, of the 498 wide receivers with at least 25 targets, his ADOT was the 12th shortest in the country.

The irony is that after Napier was fired, Wilson was seemingly unleashed under interim coach Billy Gonzales. Against Georgia, Wilson had nine catches for 121 yards and a touchdown. His ADOT in that game was 8.2 yards, compared to his career average of 4.7 yards. And before Napier was fired, Wilson had caught just one pass in his college career on a target at least 20 yards downfield. He had two such catches against Georgia.

But after the Georgia game, it was announced he was getting tightrope surgery on his ankle, and he was done for the year.

Tre Wilson’s Florida usage

• 2023: 61 catches, 538 yards, 6 TDs; heavily utilized near the line of scrimmage
• 2024: 6.0-yard ADOT; season ended after four games with hip surgery
• 2025 under Napier: Just one career reception on a target 20+ yards downfield entering the coaching change
• 2025 vs. Georgia after Napier: 9 catches, 121 yards, 1 TD; two catches on targets 20+ yards downfield
• 2026: Transferred to LSU under Lane Kiffin

Lane Kiffin gets the chance to answer Florida’s biggest Tre Wilson question

So let’s make this part clear: most Gator fans are not actively rooting against Wilson in 2026. Yes, he is with LSU, and we would prefer LSU goes 0-12, but no one would blame Wilson if he walked away from his experience frustrated with how he was used. 

This is the same Wilson who was visibly frustrated with the offense in 2024 against Samford and was on social media liking posts in 2024 that called for Napier to be fired. Napier had a legit downfield threat in Wilson that instead was asked to do things like block linebackers on third-and-short situations.

We’ll see what Lane Kiffin can do with Wilson, and all we will say is don’t be shocked if he winds up being one of the more under-the-radar players heading into the 2026 season.

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