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Florida’s wide receiver depth received a boost in recent days with projected starters Trevon Grimes, Jacob Copeland and Kadarius Toney reporting for fall camp.
Defensive end Zachary Carter, the fourth holdout from last week, has also joined the team at practice. Gators Territory first reported the news Monday.
"It’s good to have those guys out there, all our guys,” UF coach Dan Mullen said Tuesday. “I support all the decisions the guys make, obviously. They've got a lot going on, a lot of little different personal deals. We’re here to support them and help them as best we can. Good to have some of those guys out to create some depth.”
The absence of Grimes, Copeland and Toney left the Gators with seven players at the position and just three upperclassmen, with redshirt senior Rick Wells being the only returner. The other two are transfers Jordan Pouncey (Texas) and Justin Shorter (Penn State), both of whom still have waiver requests pending with the NCAA.
Shorter, a former five-star recruit, was the leader of the unit with Florida’s top three receivers out.
“You have a veteran guy like Justin Shorter doing an unbelievable job. He was there kind of leading the way,” Mullen said. “It was great for him. Great adjustment for him being an older, veteran guy getting in there while those guys were gone and really showed what he can do.”
Redshirt freshmen Ja’Markis Weston and Trent Whittemore have also impressed so far in camp. Both were hyped up last year by Florida’s senior receivers as players to watch, and they’ve made significant strides since then according to Mullen.
“You look at obviously Trent,” he said, “got fabulous hands, very smart, we can play him, he knows all three different receiver positions, gives you a lot of flexibility out there on the field and you can be able to move him around. Ja'Markis, I've seen just an unbelievable improvement from him from this time last year. Last year, he was coming in and he was this really this big, athletic guy.
“Now you watch him route running, you watch his ability catching the ball. He’s catching the ball so much better. That gets you really excited about those young guys. Now, going from these guys that show little flashes and say that they could be great players to seeing them actually do it every day within the system is pretty exciting.”
True freshman wideouts Xzavier Henderson and Ja’Quavion Fraziars are already showing those little flashes at practice. Henderson has stood out with his speed and fluidity, while Fraziars brings some size and physicality to the position.
Both have received first-team reps in camp, especially when the starters were out.
“If you're a freshman, you wanna Wally Pipp people. Get in there, man,” Mullen said, referencing Lou Gehrig. “The (freshmen) receivers obviously got opportunities to go get up there. And hey, once you get that opportunity to go step in the 1 huddle, hold on to that opportunity right there. Don’t let anybody take you out.”
