Five Florida Gators Freshmen Who Can Make an Impact in 2020

Wrapping up our four-part series, breaking down the Florida Gators' 2020 roster by class, it's time to take a look at UF's redshirt and incoming freshmen and who could make an impact early on in their careers.

Like the rising sophomore class, this is where head coach Dan Mullen will begin to see the fruits of his recruiting labor. The 2019 and 2020 classes stand as Mullen's first two true classes after taking over the post with a month until the early signing period in 2017, and a good amount of talent brought in in that span is ready to take on bigger roles already.

This story includes both redshirt and true freshmen entering the 2020 season. The NCAA allows true freshmen to play in up to four games while reserving a redshirt year, which allows players to receive limited game reps in their development before taking on bigger roles. There are multiple redshirt freshmen on Florida's roster who are slated to step up in the immediate future.

With that being said, which five freshmen could emerge this season?

LB Ty'Ron Hopper (R-Fr.)

Despite being considered the No. 4 OLB and No. 88 overall prospect in the 2019 signing class by the 247Sports Composite, Hopper redshirted his freshman season after seeing limited action in four games, recording two tackles and half of a tackle for loss.

Though, there's a reason Hopper was highly-rated coming out of Roswell (Ga.). An elite athlete who played both defensive back and linebacker in high school, Hopper has transitioned to playing linebacker for Florida and his elite athleticism should allow the Gators' to improve in coverage at the position. He tallied seven interceptions and four defended passes at Roswell, to go with 193 total tackles, seven sacks, 18.5 tackles for loss, and four forced fumbles.

Following the departure of three-year starting middle linebacker David Reese II to graduation, the Gators look to shuffle their linebacker corps and Hopper stands to gain. The linebacker room is crowded, but Hopper offers a coverage skill-set that the others don't possess. He should find the fields on passing downs, at least.

WR Trent Whittemore/Ja'Markis Weston/Dionte Marks (R-Fr.)

After the graduation of four wide receivers following the 2019 season, the Gators return three rising freshmen receivers that have the confidence of plenty across the roster. The question is: Who is poised to make the biggest impact of Trent Whittemore, Ja'Markis Weston, and Dionte Marks?

"They have a lot of potential," Gators quarterback Kyle Trask described of the freshmen in December. "They have worked really, really hard and everyone on the team has seen great stride. I think they are going to make a lot of great plays for this university.

Florida also returns several veterans in the receiver room in Trevon Grimes, Jacob Copeland, and others, so Whittemore, Weston, and Marks won't be critical to the Gators' offensive success. However, as eight receivers caught over 20 passes in 2019, there's more than enough room for at least one of the three to become a consistent contributor, let alone take on complementary roles.

DL Gervon Dexter (incoming Fr.)

The Gators' highest-profile recruit since the 2015 class, Dexter is a naturally gifted rusher who should take advantage of the Gators' lack of depth on the interior defensive line as a freshman.

Kyree Campbell returns with experience and as the leader of Florida's defensive front, but the remainder of UF's interior line doesn't offer much to hang your hat on. Rising senior T.J. Slaton showed promise as a junior in 2019, but has only started two games in his career and is set to start opposite of Campbell with more experience than anyone else.

Dexter, standing at 6-6, 294 lbs., is an imposing defensive lineman that packs great strength, athleticism, and explosion into his game. He's a bit raw from a technique perspective as he's only played two years of football, yet he makes his game work given his intangibles. In those two years at Lake Wales High School (Fla.), Dexter posted a whopping 27 sacks, 53 tackles for loss, and 14 forced fumbles.

LB Derek Wingo (incoming Fr.)

Like Hopper, Wingo will be in a position to compete for playing time early on while Florida tries to figure out its linebacker corps. While Hopper, Ventrell Miller, James Houston IV, Lacedrick Brunson, and Mohamoud Diabate have experience over Wingo, he too brings a unique skill-set to the room.

Wingo played quarterback during his first two seasons at St. Thomas Aquinas High School (Fla.) before transitioning to the defensive side of the ball. He quickly picked things up as an outside linebacker and edge rusher, tallying 101 tackles, 24 sacks, 28 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, and two defended passes.

The Gators don't have a true instinctual playmaker at linebacker after losing Reese to graduation, and even he was limited in coverage. Wingo adds great athleticism, like Hopper and Diabate, with the do-it-all ability that should allow him to compete for the middle linebacker spot early on in his career.

OL Joshua Braun (incoming Fr.)

A late flip from Georgia in the 2020 recruiting cycle, Braun looked to compete for playing time and perhaps the sixth offensive lineman spot as a freshman after enrolling early and practicing with the team in December.

With the recent addition of Mississippi State graduate transfer Stewart Reese, Braun could instead be eased into his development. Still, the offensive line struggled with run blocking in 2019 and that is the bread-and-butter of Braun's game, coming from a run-heavy Suwannee offense.

Braun played both tackle and guard spots, left and right, during his high school career, and carries a huge, ready-to-play frame of 6-6, 356 lbs. At his size, Braun played competitive doubles tennis in high school, and similar movement skills could be seen in his pulling blocks and when moving to the second level. Despite some experienced talent being added via the transfer portal, Braun still stands a shot at early playing time.