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.