Big shoes to fill in college football's top 10

College football’s talent turnover rate is part of what makes every fall so exciting. As one wave of superstars moves forward in life, new players, coaches and position groups are waiting to be the next one to shine.

Significant pieces of every College Football Playoff contender must be replaced from top-five NFL Draft picks to Heisman finalists to First-Team All-Americans.

Some players may be impossible to replace, but it will not be because of lack of effort. Using the latest CBS Sports top 25 power rankings, we examine some of the people or units tasked with replacing the impact faces of the 2018 football season.

10. Oregon, WR Juwan Johnson  — You could make an argument for new defensive coordinator Andy Avalos after the Ducks lost Jim Leavitt. But an elite quarterback like Justin Herbert needs his weapons, and it will not be easy to replace a single-season record breaker like Dillon Mitchell. Many fans hope to see Penn State’s grad transfer assume that mantle as a top target. The spring game was a step in the right direction. Mycah Pittman is certainly a freshman to watch while slot Jaylon Redd is the returning leading receiver.

9. Michigan, LB Josh Ross  — One does not simply replace the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, especially one the caliber of Devin Bush. While there seem to be solid edge rushers coming up to replace other NFL talents, Bush will be the toughest to replace. Ross started in Bush’s place in the bowl game against Florida. He appears poised to take over the MIKE linebacker role after 54 tackles and 5.5 TFLs last season. Jordan Anthony has also made noise while Ross sat out spring with an injury.

“Ross is the smartest linebacker, but Jordan Anthony has excelled in his absence,” said defensive coordinator Don Brown. “He’s barely missed any time and has played well.”

8. Texas, Second Receiver — Heisman hopeful Sam Ehlinger still has a proven weapon in Collin Johnson, but counterpart Lil’Jordan Humphrey is gone after a 1,200-yard, 10-touchdown season. Humphrey lined up primarily as an H-receiver. Now vacant, Joshua Moore, Jordan Pouncey or other freshmen could enter the mix.

And time will tell when it comes to five-star Bru McCoy, his eligibility waiver and role within the team. He will make an instant impact if the waiver works out as Longhorn fans hope. After Sam Ehlinger led the Longhorns to a Sugar Bowl win, expectations are even higher.

7. Florida, Buck end Jonathan Greenard — Florida has some work to do in developing an offensive line after the departure of four starters, including both tackles. Edge rusher looks like the single-toughest role to replace from last season, however, after a farewell to Jachai Polite. Enter graduate transfer Jonathan Greenard of Louisville. He missed 2018 with a hand injury and with the coaching change at Louisville, he made the move. Greenard excelled  in 2017 with 15.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks. Florida defensive coordinator Todd Grantham originally recruited Greenard to Louisville, and is now his position coach at Florida as well. Keep an eye on the likes of Andrew Chatfield, Jeremiah Moon (when healthy), early enrollee Mohamoud Diabate and prized late addition Khris Bogle, too.

6. Ohio State, QB Justin Fields  — Not only did Dwayne Haskins lead Ohio State to a Big Ten Championship in his only season as a starting quarterback, but the new Washington Redskin also threw 50 touchdown passes on the way to a Heisman Trophy third-place finish. Fields is far from a sure thing to carry the full weight, but he has all of the skills and an elite group of offensive minds to get him there. After ranking as the No. 2 overall recruit behind Trevor Lawrence a year ago, Fields got his fresh start at Ohio State and a waiver to play right away. Following JT Barrett and Haskins is no easy ask.

5. LSU, LB Patrick Queen — Devin White was an absolute star for LSU at linebacker, and he will do the same at the NFL level. Now, it is Patrick Queen’s turn to take over full time. Queen saw plenty of action last season, especially against Alabama with the targeting situation. He made nine tackles in that battle with the Crimson Tide, and did the same  in the Fiesta Bowl against UCF. Does Dave Aranda have another star in the making at linebacker? Time to find out.

4. Oklahoma, the offensive line

Sure, Jalen Hurts has massive shoes to fill as Oklahoma looks for a third-straight Heisman Trophy winner. Those shoes may be impossible to fill with the history we saw on the field last season. While Kyler Murray earned the majority of national hype last year, Oklahoma’s offensive line was also outrageously talented. That will be tough to replicate for the Sooners in search of another College Football Playoff berth.

“There’s bound to be an adjustment period early on in the season, but once Bill Bedenbaugh’s group gels, it’ll be a force to be reckoned with yet again,” writes OU Insider. “(Creed) Humphrey is an early All-American candidate, and he’ll be surrounded by a pair of new guards and two new tackles.”

3. Georgia, DB Tyson Campbell

Tyson Campbell has the higher expectations of the projected starting corners. He and Eric Stokes will have to be elite in lieu of Deandre Baker, who was a true star at the position. Early tests are coming with Ian Book, Jarrett Guarantano and Jake Bentley all on the first half of the schedule. He could be one of the true breakout stars in the SEC.

“Both Eric Stokes and Tyson Campbell started multiple games opposite of Baker in 2019, and they are the favorites to win the two starting jobs this year,” said Dawgs247 reporter Jake Rowe. “We got a look at what that might look like in the Allstate Sugar Bowl against Texas and both players held their own. Keep an eye on JUCO transfer DJ Daniel, who will push both of those players throughout preseason camp and is quite similar to Baker physically."

2. Alabama, DT DJ Dale

Alabama has weapons ready and waiting for most of its NFL departures but is Quinnen Williams really the kind of defensive force that can be replaced? We will find out soon with the expectation that DJ Dale moves into the role in some capacity. He will not have the same responsibilities as Williams, but projects to start next to Raekwon Williams for now. Dale worked with the ones by the end of camp, and the freshman should have quite the impact.

“Early enrollee D.J. Dale was the talk of spring drills after ascending to the top of the depth chart at nose tackle by the close of spring drills,” said BamaOnline Senior Analyst Travis Reier. “His jersey number and powerful build brings to mind Daron Payne, but few expected him to pass up Phidarian Mathis as quickly as Dale did — I still wouldn’t count Mathis out of the competition. They’re going to need both.”

1. Clemson, Four new DL starters

The major players are all back offensively from breakout quarterback superstar Trevor Lawrence to dynamic skill players like Travis Etienne, Justyn Ross and Tee Higgins. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney cannot say the same about his championship-winning defensive line, however. All four starters moved onto the NFL Draft as 2019 selections, highlighted by Clelin Ferrell at No. 4 overall.

Now, it comes down to a new rotation of players to pick up the slack. Clemson ranked fifth nationally in total defense last season. Plenty of excitement surrounded Xavier Thomas to rush the passer in place of Ferrell. Jordan Williams, Nyles Pinckney and Tyler Davis are all among the linemen to watch in 2019.

New contact rules for high school football practice get mixed reactions

Adjustments to the high school football playoff format are not the only changes coming to the sport in the near future. According to a Wednesday release from the Michigan High School Athletic Association, further restrictions on collision in practice are being implemented immediately for the 2019 football season.

According to the release, the MHSAA is limiting programs to “no more than six hours of full-pads collision contact per week during the preseason and no more than 30 minutes of collision contact during a week of in-season (after games begin) practice.” The MHSAA defines “collision” as “contact at game speed, with the execution of full tackles at a competitive pace, taking players to the ground.”

The MHSAA also specified that “thud” contact will be unlimited, defining thud as "full speed but above the waist only, with no player taken to the ground and no winner or loser. Thud contact is not considered collision contact.”

According to Chippewa Valley coach Scott Merchant, these new definitions will allow teams to do more despite the new restrictions on collisions.

“I’m really pleased that they made a differentiation between live-collision contact and thud,” Merchant said. “I think for most of us, very few of us are doing a ton of live or full collision or full-go in practice as it is. Prior to this changing of definitions, basically thud contact was considered collision too ... I think that, with this change, it will allow us to do a lot more in terms of tackling and keeping the head out of tackling and teaching proper form with that.”

Chippewa Valley won the Division 1 state championship last fall and Merchant says he already includes three different types of contact in practices. Along with thud and live collision, Merchant has “tag-off” contact where the players tag the opponent and then stop.

“If anyone is doing live contact for hours upon hours in this day and age, that’s just crazy,” Merchant said.

Detroit Cass Tech coach Tom Wilcher said the MHSAA is moving in the right direction with this new rule. However, he also has some concern when it comes to quality instruction time on how to properly teach athletes to tackle in a game, especially with those new to the sport.

“In order to teach safety, you’re going to have to have drills where you teach them how to hit and tackle and you’re going to spend more time with it," Wilcher said. "That’s the problem. It’s called time on task. If you limit the amount of time on a task, that means that you are limiting the amount of instruction time to teach the kids. That’s the biggest problem I have.”

Clarkston coach Kevin Richardson echoed the same concerns that Wilcher brought up.

“The thing that I hesitate on about this whole thing is that drills are great but you have to have some live contact to teach tackling,” Richardson said.

At the same time, Richardson also mentioned the MHSAA does not have an efficient way to police the collision rules.

“People are still going to do what they want to do,” Richardson said. “How are they going to monitor it? I mean, you take care of your kids anyway. Our amount of contact has dwindled so much from the old days that it’s unbelievable."

According to Freeland coach Kevin Townsend, the lack of proper live collision in practice could have a negative ripple effect for game nights.

“My only worry of the ‘thud’ is kids losing the technique of tackling,” Townsend said. “We do simulation drills, but nothing can replace what a tackle might be like on Friday nights. It will obviously cut down on injuries during practice, but might increase them when kids go full out on game days."

Over at Muskegon High School, however, the Big Reds already eliminated full-speed tackling from practice. According to Muskegon offensive coordinator Brent White, it has not come at the expense of proper tackling in games. In fact, White thinks the new rule will allow for better instruction.

“Essentially, the way that I interpret the rule is the state has actually loosened the practice rules a bit in allowing more team activity, more opportunity to teach kids how to tackle in a safe environment,” White said. “I don’t know how many teams full tackle in practice. I know that the majority of coaches I know and associate with ... none of us full-speed tackled around in practice. It’s just not a very safe practice. It’s not safe so we don’t do it.”

For some coaches, it will be a wait-and-see approach to see what kind of difference the new rules make.

College football schedules with fans in mind

All around the country at Power Five schools, most athletic directors have been working the phones for the future.

The ADs have been trying to line up other Power Five schools rather than put colorful icing on the usual cupcakes.

The reasons are twofold — 1. attendance is down and the competition has never been more intense for the entertainment dollar, and, 2. The College Football Playoffs could one day expand to six or eight and they are trying to put themselves in position to have an edge in strength of schedule.

Mostly, though, it’s the former rather than the latter.

“Some years it could help, some years it could hurt,” Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin said. “It’s a moving target. You don’t know how good the teams will be 10 years from now.”

For example, Florida just announced a home-and-home with Colorado in 2028 and 2029 earlier in the week, then Friday announced a two-game series against Texas the following two years.

Schools are reaching 10 years into the future and beyond trying to stack schedules to make their home season-ticket packages more seductive.

“More than anything, we’re looking to provide value to the season ticket holders,” Stricklin said.

For example, the Rocky Mountain High of bringing Colorado to Gainesville is made even more valuable because the trip to Boulder, Colo., can be seen as a destination trip for Gator fans.

Stricklin isn’t finished, but these two series are certainly a departure from the norm. Even with the annual game against FSU on the schedule, it’s not enough just to play the SEC schedule, especially in the years where there are only three conference home games because of the Florida-Georgia game.

Florida knows that it can’t stick with the old formula anymore — eight SEC games, FSU and three money games. Too many fans have too many options than to simply show up because the Gators are playing.

While UF continues to work to make the stadium better and sleeker with capacity expected to eventually drop by as much as 10,000 seats, all of the schools in America know they have to schedule better because of what has become an annual decline in ticket sales and an even sharper decline in the number of scanned tickets.

Florida has had a pair of money games — Michigan in 2017 and Miami coming up this year — and Stricklin is OK with more of those games. But he prefers home-and-home series with Power Five teams.

Up the road, Georgia has taken it even further.

The Bulldogs have scheduled three Power Five teams in addition to the eight conference games in 2028 and 2029 and have non-conference series on the books with Oregon, Clemson, Florida State, Texas and Oklahoma.

“It’s both,” said Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity. “We went to Notre Dame in 2017 and saw what that meant for our fans. They want to see big games and we get that. It’s important for the health of our game that we’re giving TV as many iconic opponents as we can.

“We’ve become very aggressive. Kirby Smart really wants to play at least two (Power Five) a year because of where the College Football Playoffs may be headed. Maybe eight teams by the next decade.”

This despite the insistence of the Power Five commissioners that there is no discussion about expanding the playoffs.

But we know where we’d like to see it go, right?

It’s not that the Power Five teams want to squeeze out everybody else.

It’s that they have no choice.

We live in a different world of transfer portals and Snapchat.

You either evolve or you get left behind. And in this case, the evolution benefits the fans.

That in itself is unusual.

Searching for transfers in college football

Justin Crouse, director of player personnel for Memphis, makes his first check of the transfer portal around 8 a.m. each day, searching for new names in the NCAA’s database of football players looking for a new school.

He checks again at lunch and one more time — at least — before he calls it a day.

For years, Crouse’s primary duties for Memphis have been identifying and evaluating recruits in high school and junior college. That was pre-portal.

“I would say 40 percent of the time now is concentrating on guys that are leaving other places,” Crouse said.

The NCAA’s new transfer rules have changed the process by which athletes switch schools, loosening some restrictions and leading more players to explore options. Football coaches have responded by throwing more manpower toward monitoring that growing talent pool and scouting the portal.

“We get an alert every day that somebody gets added into the portal, but then we get a weekly breakdown of position, hometown,” Memphis coach Mike Norvell said. “And then trying to collect all the information, the video, to get a sense of who these kids have developed to be.”

The portal is the NCAA’s cryptic name for the database it maintains to track which athletes — in all sports — have notified their schools they wish to transfer. The big change from last year’s rules reform was athletes no longer needed to request permission to transfer. Schools and coaches can no longer stop a transfer and dictate where the athlete goes. The point of the portal was to create transparency and order.

Before rules reform, the transfer process could be clandestine. Because athletes needed permission from their current coach to be contacted by other schools, it encouraged third parties to get involved, an active grapevine filled with high school and 7-on-7 coaches, personal trainers, parents and friends of friends.

“Before it was by word of mouth,” Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck said. “Somebody gave you a call, ‘This guy might be transferring,’ and get going. Now, it’s every day we have people that are in our program checking the portal.”

The portal provides more exposure for the transferring player and, ostensibly, more opportunities. Instead of deals being struck under the table even before players officially were granted their release, now every school in the country has the chance to make a pitch.

“It takes away … the middleman in making the connection,” Norvell said.

Georgia Tech coach Geoff Collins said: “I think it’s beneficial for the players.”

Portal patrol duties tend to fall to the player personnel department — or some equivalent.

Crouse said he prioritizes players from Memphis’ recruiting area and those who play positions of team need. All highly productive players and quarterbacks get a look, too. Crouse compiles background material and film, going back to high school, using services such as Hudl and Pro Football Focus. He then sends that information to the Memphis coaches sorting by position, recruiting area and previous relationships.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart compared working the portal to NFL teams having a portion of their scouting department dedicated to veteran free agents.

“We just happen to have a larger pool (of players), which is the portal,” Smart said. “We know most of the guys on the board because we knew them coming out of high school and so we had a background on that. We said, ‘yeah, we didn’t think that guy was very good there and that’s why he’s leaving. So we’ll pass. That guy is an intriguing guy because we don’t have that position or we just had a mass exodus of three guys leave some position, juniors came out early we weren’t expecting. Better go to the portal, find a good backup.'”

The portal has opened up the process, but ultimately relationships built during high school recruiting still play a major role.

Oregon coach Mario Cristobal said he wants his staff to keep track of players who really liked Oregon coming out of high school but chose to sign elsewhere.

“This is one we may want to keep on a hot file,” Cristobal said. “So if it does happen, then you have the option to act relatively quickly.”

Staffers are on the lookout not just for talent, but fit — on the field and off.

“He went to this college, but he’s from here. Yeah, that raises attention regardless of position,” Collins said. “He’s leaving because he wants to be closer to home. Well, if his home is Dallas then don’t worry, we’re good.”

Background checks might be the most important part of portal scouting. Why exactly is the player leaving?

“There’s always a story,” Norvell said.

It’s those stories that have made some coaches stick to an old-school approach to pursuing transfers.

Georgia State coach Shawn Elliott said if the Panthers bring in a transfer he prefers it to be a player with which the staff is already familiar.

“But you know we do look at (the portal), but like I said I don’t think you want to build your football program with a bunch of guys that have already quit somewhere,” Elliott said.

And that grapevine is still plenty active.

“I think everyone’s just kind of waiting for that bulletin to pop up,” Cristobal said. “But I think everyone speculates as well.”

10 bold predictions for college football season

Could we see a first time College Football Playoff participant this season? Will a non-quarterback be a serious threat in the Heisman Trophy race? Is there a chance Clemson or Alabama doesn't reach the national championship finale?

There's a lot of intrigue three months out from the start of the 2019 season, one that can't get here fast enough as we trudge through the summer months without it. Coming out of spring practice, there's a handful of teams we know will be ranked among the elites in August and a couple others with darkhorse buzz.

As for the stars expected to carry college football's momentum? The 2020 NFL Draft appears to be quarterback-rich and those guys are expected to carry their respective teams throughout the fall. But there's a few teams and individual standouts we're not talking enough about as well and perhaps this projection sheds some light on those.

Here are 10 bold predictions ahead of the 2019 college football season:

10. Highly-ranked flop? Notre Dame
Flop might be a bit harsh, but there's a chance Notre Dame — despite talent returning on both sides of the football — finishes with three regular-season losses, a number that will certainly keep the Irish well short of their expectations nationally as a preseason Top 10. Ian Book returns and should be one of the nation's top quarterbacks, but losing two captains up front — Alex Bars and Sam Mustipher — along with Dexter Williams and big-play wideout Miles Boykin means the Notre Dame offense will look a little different. Notre Dame won't be favored in road trips to Georgia or Michigan and there's several other games that could go either way on the schedule this fall, one that's tougher than last season's slate. Their efforts in getting back to the Playoff will be on life support after the September setback in Athens.

9. Nebraska reaches Big Ten title game
Perhaps the boldest prediction on the list, could the Huskers really turn the tables on a 4-8 season with a Big Ten Championship appearance? It would take a Herculean effort from sophomore quarterback Adrian Martinez, but more importantly, better-than-expected play out of a defense facing questions entering the season. But there's two factors that weigh heavily on Nebraska's chances — the Huskers don't play in the black-and-blue division and face one of those rare schedules conducive to success. Scott Frost's team won't play a single Top 25 opponent on the road and their two toughest games — Ohio State and Wisconsin — come in ideal spots. They'll play the Buckeyes with budding confidence at 4-0 and battle the Badgers following an open week in November. Northwestern won this division last season and I expect it to be wide open once again.

8. Tennessee wins 9 games
It'll take a bowl victory, but the Vols will finish 9-4 during Jeremy Pruitt's second season and all will be well in Knoxville. We'll know if a better-than-expected finish for Tennessee is feasible heading into the Georgia game on Oct. 5 after a bye post-Florida. There will be extreme optimism and buzz if Pruitt's team goes into Gainesville and beats the Gators in their SEC opener after three straight victories at home. The offense should be much-improved under Jim Chaney if there's solid play up front and Tennessee likes its starting 11 on defense. Depth could be an issue with any significant injuries, but I'll roll the dice here and says the Vols only lose to Florida, Georgia, Alabama and either Mississippi State or Mizzou during the regular season.

7. Alabama places two in Heisman Top 5
The last time one team has placed two players in the final five in Heisman voting came in 2008 when Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell and wideout Michael Crabtree were voted fourth and fifth, respectively. It has only happened four times since the turn of the century, but there's a good chance it comes back around this season with Tua Tagovailoa and Jerry Jeudy. These two have a chance to be the nation's top quarterback-wideout tandem in terms of production and that comes in spite of Alabama's talent-wealth at the receiver position. Jeudy won the Biletnikoff award last season and could add more hardware to his trophy case as a junior. Both of these talented players will be first-round picks in the 2020 NFL Draft should they choose to come out.

6. Sam Ehlinger is Heisman finalist
More on the Heisman conversation — here's a guy with Tim Tebow-like qualities, someone who makes the players around him want to use every last ounce of energy they have to win football games. Ehlinger is one of the few players nationally with it this season, an athlete with intangibles needed to be successful at the all-important position of leadership. The straw who stirs for the drink for the Longhorns, Ehlinger might be college football's most important player respective to his team's success. Should he take the next step as a passer this season, and I expect he will after last year's rise, this bulldozing signal caller could exceed 50 total touchdowns — especially if the Texas defense takes a slight step back with several new starters. Ehlinger's numbers will be too impressive to ignore for Heisman voters not to mention his play in spotlight games.

5. Florida beats Georgia
All that preseason chatter from the Gators has increased the intrigue a bit for this one in Jacksonville and I liked Florida to back it up against the unbeaten Bulldogs. How's that for a big-time SEC upset pick? Honestly, it won't be all that surprising if both teams are inside the Top 10 when this matchup comes around in November. The Gators' schedule isn't going to do them any favors, however. Florida will come into the Cocktail Party with at least one SEC loss (Auburn, LSU, South Carolina three straight weeks pre-Georgia) and then face enormous pressure at Mizzou on Nov. 16 after beating the Bulldogs with a potential chance to clinch the East. Somehow, Florida will finish 6-2 in SEC play and miss out on a trip to Atlanta despite beating the eventual division champs. Another 10-win season for Dan Mullen, perhaps 11 if the Gators show up to their postseason with focus (like they did last fall vs. Michigan).

4. Oregon wins the Pac-12
Returning a veteran quarterback as talented as Justin Herbert can not be understated. But even with that universally-understood as a strength, if you're betting on a Pac-12 champion, chances are you're placing your wager on Chris Petersen's Washington Huskies. There's a certain trust factor there coupled with the Ducks' treacherous road slate — Stanford, Washington, USC and Arizona State. One of college football's national sleeper teams in 2019, if Oregon can rely on its defense in late-game situations, a Pac-12 championship is not out of reach. Justin Herbert's return means the Ducks will be in the thick of the conference title race if they can navigate their way through a challenging schedule. Much like Washington this fall, one of the Pac-12's top teams in 2019 won't be without a blemish or two. That elite-level 2019 signing class will pay immediate dividends for Oregon, too.

3. Michigan beats Ohio State
It's bound to happen at some point for Jim Harbaugh, right? He gets the Buckeyes in Ann Arbor this season with senior quarterback Shea Patterson finally finding his comfort zone in an offensive scheme that'll compliment his skill set. And considering 2018's massacre and the year-long aftertaste it has left in the mouths of the Wolverines, there's extra motivation in this one for Michigan to snap the streak. There's three teams in my opinion who could win the Big Ten in 2019 and the Wolverines are one of them. Keep an eye on Michigan's defense this fall. Despite losing key contributors Rashan Gary, Devin Bush and Chase Winovich, Don Brown believes this could be the most athletic unit he has fielded at the program. There's the Ryan Day factor, too. Ohio State's first-year coach will be facing immense pressure to get back to the Big Ten title game in his first season and needing this one to do so.

2. Big Ten misses Playoff
Since Ohio State's national championship commenced the Playoff era to end the 2014 season, the Big Ten has scored zero points in two final four appearances and has not been represented since the Buckeyes' 31-0 loss to Clemson in the semifinals to end the 2016 campaign. That streak will continue as Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin and Nebraska beat up and each other this season in the upper tier. From the outside looking in, it's Michigan who appears to have the fewest questions but the schedule is challenging and a two-loss conference champion — whether that's the Wolverines or Buckeyes — won't be enough to impress the selection committee against the likes of Alabama, Clemson, Georgia and the Big 12 victor.

1. Clemson loses a regular-season game
One of five teams this season expected to be favored in every regular-season game (perhaps by double digits), the defending national champions should cruise to another Playoff berth without much adversity standing in their way. But no team nationally has a bigger target this fall and there's a possibility that the lack of competition on the schedule may backfire somewhere the Tigers least expect. With Clemson's over-under win total matching Alabama's at 11, beware. The Tigers needed a 13-play, 94-yard touchdown drive to earn the come-from-behind win last year vs. Syracuse at home and lost the previous time these two teams met at the Carrier Dome. That matchup comes on Sept. 14, after what could be a tough tilt vs. Texas A&M. And if the Tigers get past those two unscathed, there's two potential upsets in November away from home against rivals N.C. State and South Carolina.

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.