With Jayden Woods back, Florida won the offseason battles that mattered most

Heading into the offseason, most Gator fans knew there was going to be roster turnover in Gainesville. Between Jon Sumrall coming to town and the lingering allure of the transfer portal just one key stroke away, the 2026 Gators were always going to look different compared to the 2025 Gators.

But despite 31 players from Florida hitting the transfer portal, it’s the Florida Five that the Gators retained they has helped Sumrall completely flip the narrative of the offseason.

Jayden Woods is returning to Florida

When it was announced that Jayden Woods would be hitting the transfer portal, it was a bit of a bummer for the Gators. Woods was expected to anchor an EDGE group that featured Kamran James, LJ McCray, and incoming freshman KJ Ford.

But remove Woods from that group, and it looked like a far less appealing unit instantly.

Add in the backdrop that when Woods announced he would enter the portal, Dallas Wilson and Jadan Baugh weren’t locked up yet, and it looked like Florida would lose far more to the transfer portal than they would be able to haul back in.

Now that Wilson, Baugh, Woods, Myles Graham, and Vernell Brown III have all announced their return for 2026, the Gators have basically everyone back who was a must-have contributor to start the Jon Sumrall Era.

If one thinks about the 31 guys who did hit the transfer portal, there were some nice players in that mix we would have liked to keep for depth. Eugene Wilson and Aidan Mizell can still be solid wide receivers at their new homes. Michai Boireau was a notable loss along the defensive line, and DJ Lagway is the headliner from this group to hit the portal.

But even with Lagway and Boireau, Florida didn’t lose anyone among the 30 guys in the portal who feel irreplaceable ahead of 2026.

Wilson, Baugh, Woods, Graham, and Brown III didn’t have comparable replacements that Florida could have landed in the portal.

And especially when you think of Florida's roster as a 53-man NFL roster rather than a 85 man college roster where 40 of those players are never used, there aren't that many players in the grand scheme of things who actually need to be retained to be competitve.

So, as much as we here at Hail Florida Hail muse at times about whether or not the Gators actually have a coherent plan, the Gators identified the top five returning talents on the roster, and they retained them.

In the words of Jon Sumrall on social media:

Good.