Dan Mullen and his coaching staff have leaned on veteran players in the past but they have also shown a willingness to play freshmen when a player shows the ability early on.

One such player is tight end Nick Elksnis, who enrolled early and is looking to make the most of his first season in Gainesville.

Florida enjoyed a generational talent at tight end in Kyle Pitts last season but Pitts is catching passes for the Atlanta Falcons and the Gators' offense needs to move on. There is no one player to replace Pitts but, just from an athleticism, skill set, and frame standpoint, Elksnis looks to be a player that could eventually be a superstar.

Enrolling early allowed him to get into the playbook and into the weight room early. and both of those advantages are showing this fall.

"He's a freshman, so he's learning the system right now. He has the potential to be [one of the biggest match-up problems on offense] down the road, yeah, because he has good size and athleticism and he's really taking advantage," Mullen said. "He's been able to stay healthy and continue to get reps, for the most part, battle through things. I think he's only missed a day or two since he's been here and, you know, with just different being banged up."

Elksnis' size and frame calls back to a young Kyle Pitts. Pitts spent his freshman season mostly working with the wide receivers and it took him a full two years to turn into the monster that terrorized defenses in 2020. While Mullen isn't ready to crown him the next "unicorn" the early returns are good.

Elksnis isn't just an athletic pass catcher either. He's added good size to his 6'4" frame to weigh around 245 pounds currently. And he knows how to use it.

Then we got Nick Elksnis who's a tough - oh, I almost cussed," Kemore Gamble said last week, laughing that he almost swore during a Zoom press conference. "He's tough, he's a tough ... I keep trying to cuss ... he's tough. And he's tall and long, he's fast, he's athletic. He's like a brick wall. His hands like ... he got muscle in his hands."

Florida will likely go with two more experienced tight ends in Gamble and Keon Zipperer to start but Elksnis is showing each day that he can contribute and it won't be long before he's making an impact.