5 Newcomers to Watch for the Gators

The Florida Gators have a ton of talent returning from a team that went 10-3 last year, capping things off with an impressive 41-15 victory over Michigan in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. Now it seems the Gators will bring in a gifted class of newcomers to help replace some of the players they lost.

Florida head coach Dan Mullen will play the best players no matter if they're freshman or seniors. So here's a list of five new faces that need to be followed heading into the fall.

Arjei Henderson, WR

During the All-American Game in January, Henderson surprised many when he chose the Gators over Oregon and Oklahoma. He was the No. 126 prospect in the 2019 class per the 247Sports Composite Index. Expect Henderson, who was a four-star recruit, to get some reps on offense this fall.

Nay'Quan Wright, RB

As a freshman for Miami's Carol City High School, Wright ran for 983 yards and 11 touchdowns on 122 carries. He followed that up with an equally successful sophomore campaign (112 att., 810 yds., 8 TDs) and Wright figures to be a part of the Gators' stable of ball carriers for this fall.

Chris Steele, CB

A top-100 recruit per ESPN.com, Steele reached for the Florida hat at the All-American Bowl over Oregon, USC, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. An early enrollee, Steele will take part in spring practice in hopes of getting him ready to play this fall. Florida had a significant need for cornerback help so getting Steele's signature was a huge deal for the Gators. ​

Kaiir Elam, ATH

Elam was ranked 48th overall in the 2019 class by 247Sports and he was one of the highest-rated prospects who had not committed entering National Signing Day. If the name sounds familiar, it's because he is the nephew of former Gators star and first-round NFL draft pick Matt Elam. Kaiir Elam is listed as an athlete, but he will likely play defensive back.

Khris Bogle, DE

On National Signing Day, Florida flipped Bogle from Alabama, giving Dan Mullen and his coaching staff another nice W to enjoy on Feb. 6. The in-state product from Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale, Bogle should slide right in and compete for playing time as an edge rusher. With Jachai Polite off to the NFL, Bogle will have a chance to be an impact player from Day 1.

There was mixed success for Gators transfers in 2018

There are always going to be those guys that don’t work out after recruiting them to a football program. Finding the best fit for both the program and the player can fail for many different reasons. When the prospect signs with your school, you want them to be that difference maker for your program.

When they transfer, most want them to do well, and that may depend on why they transferred. Here is a look at the players that Florida signed that played college football in 2018, but somewhere else. 

QB Will Grier (West Virginia)
Grier sat out the 2016 season at West Virginia after transferring from Florida. Grier was the starter all of 2017 and threw for 3,490 yards, 34 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Grier was the Big-12 Newcomer of the Year as voted on by the league coaches. In 2018, he started 11 games and finished with 3864 yards, 37 touchdowns and seven interceptions. At the end of the year he was a Davey O’Brien Award semifinalist, a Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Top 5, and a Maxwell Award finalist. Needless to say he is the most decorated player on this list and his stats are better than any quarterback Florida has had since Tim Tebow.

QB/ WR Treon Harris (Tennessee State)
Harris, who signed at Florida in the same class as Grier, moved on after a bout of trouble in Gainesville. After sitting out a year when transferring to Tennessee State, Harris played quarterback for his first year back on the field in 2017. That season he played in six games, starting the first five and went 58-of-106 for 729 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.  He was moved to receiver in this, his redshirt senior year, he finished with a solid 35 catches for 476 yards and five touchdowns in 2018.

QB Jake Allen (Dartmouth)
Allen transferred to Dartmouth in the offseason. As a redshirt freshman he saw action in two games, completing one pass for nine yards against Georgetown.

RB Jordan Cronkrite (USF)
After transferring before the 2017 season Cronkite had to sit out that year as a transfer. Cronkrite had 402 yards and four touchdowns in his first two years on campus at Florida. As a redshirt junior with the Bulls, Cronkrite ran for 1,095 yards and nine touchdowns averaging 6.33 yards per carry.

WR C.J. Worton (FIU)
After a couple of seasons of very little action (10 catches) for Worton at Florida, he transferred to FIU. As a redshirt junior, Worton led FIU in receiving hauling in 36 receptions for 620 yards and six touchdowns.

WR Kalif Jackson (Grambling State)
After graduating at the end of 2017, the seldom used Jackson transferred to Grambling. Still just a junior, Jackson saw the field in 10 games, but caught just three passes for 10 yards. He has another year to play.

TE Camrin Knight (Georgia State)
After transferring and sitting out the 2017 season ay GSU, Knight was eligible to play this season. He saw action in eight games this season catching three balls for 34 yards.

OT Andrew Mike (Rice)
Mike played in a lot of games at Florida, but most all of them on the kick protection. He did the same at Rice as a graduate transfer in his only season playing on special teams in six contests during the season.

DT Gerald Willis (Miami)
Willis transferred from Florida to Miami after the 2014 season after finding himself in different off-the-field issues on campus that weren’t law issues, but a detriment to the team. At Florida he had 14 tackles in nine games in 2014. After sitting out the 2015 season due to transfer, Willis played in nine games and had 16 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and two pass break ups for the Hurricanes in 2016. Willis cited personal issues and sat out the 2017 season before returning for a big 2018 year. He was really playing well early this past season and finished with a really strong with 59 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, four sacks, and two passes broken up. He was voted second team All-American by Sports Illustrated and second team All-ACC by the league’s coaches following the season.

DT Richerd Desir-Jones (Coffeyville CC)
Desir-Jones came to Florida as an offensive lineman in the 2015 class. After a couple of seasons he was moved to defensive tackle. He saw action in a couple of games in 2016. Desir-Jones transferred from Florida to Coffeyville after sitting out the 2017 season as part of the credit card scandal in Gainesville. In 2018, Desir-Jones had 16 tackles in nine games.

DE Jordan Smith (Butler CC)
Smith was another caught up in the credit card issue at Florida and left after the season. In this season with the Grizzlies, Smith had a pretty big year notching 68 tackles and 11 sacks as an edge rusher in 12 games. That is the kind of production that will get him noticed to move on to a bigger school, despite his off-the-field issues.

Position changes, roster numbers for spring practice

Florida has a handful football players changing positions this spring.

UF coach Jim McElwain announced Thursday that defensive back Duke Dawson and offensive lineman Martez Ivey will line up at new spots in 2017.

"He'll be corner full time," McElwain said of Dawson, who started at nickel in 2016. "Obviously his ability to play nickel is only something that is not only going to help us but help him in the future as it did Brian Poole. I think his ability to be able to show all that stuff is going to do nothing more than strengthen our depth, help the Gators get better and help him personally."

"Tez will go out to left (tackle). We need to develop (the tackle position) between him, (Jawaan Taylor) and Fred (Johnson). We need to get Stone (Forsythe) involved as he's been a freshman now. He's ready to roll. … There will be some really good competition as we get rolling there."

In addition to Dawson and Ivey, McElwain said position changes will happen for 3 more players.

"Richerd Desir-Jones is moving from O-line over to D-line," McElwain said. "We're going to bring (walk-on) Tanner Rowell from D-line over to O-line as an inside position, teach him both center and guard. Cam Knight is going to go from tight end over to linebacker for the spring to take a look at that."

The Gators also revealed jersey numbers Thursday for their 5 early enrollees: defensive tackle Kyree Campbell (55), tight end Kemore Gamble (88), linebacker James Houston (41), offensive tackle Kadeem Telfort (76) and athlete Kadarius Toney (17), who will play quarterback this spring.

There are no number changes for the returning players. Jersey numbers 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 haven't been assigned. No. 1 was not worn by a Florida player in 2016 for the first time since 1984.