Could the Florida Gators Land LSU Transfer TE Arik Gilbert?
It's no secret that the Florida Gators love to implement the tight end as a focal point within its offense. That was made clear over the past two seasons with potential top-15 pick Kyle Pitts, who goes down as one of the best tight ends in the program's history.
With Pitts officially on his way to the NFL, the Gators will need to make some adjustments. While both Keon Zipperer and Kemore Gamble will surely make up some of the ground lost by Pitts' absence, the room could be upgraded further, potentially with rival-LSU tight end Arik Gilbert, who unexpectedly entered the transfer portal shortly before the end of the season.
Gilbert, a freshman in 2020 out of Marietta (Ga.), was a Sports Illustrated All-American tight end coming out of high school and would finish his prep career by being named the 2019-20 Gatorade Player of the Year award, the first time a tight end has ever won the award.
During his recruitment, Gilbert, 6-foot-5, 249 pounds ultimately chose the LSU Tigers over multiple big-name schools, including Alabama, Texas A&M and Georgia, as well as others. He ended his senior season with 105 receptions for 1,860 yards and 15 touchdowns. Simply put, he was thought of as one of the best players in the nation, not simply one of the best tight ends.
Officially entering the transfer portal last week, Gilbert instantly became one of the hottest commodities on the open market.
According to Rivals' Mike Farrell, the Gators are the team that is currently trending for Gilbert's services. While others remain in, such as Georgia and Alabama, it's Florida that could potentially scoop up one of the top recruits to ever come out of the state of Georgia.
Now, will the Gators actually land the giant, essentially getting a potential second dose of Pitts in the fold? Florida has never been shy about using the transfer portal under head coach Dan Mullen. This year, they're slated to bring in former five-star running back Demarkcus Bowman and former Penn State defensive tackle Antonio Shelton. There could be others added, too.
If Florida is able to land Gilbert, tight ends coach Tim Brewster's room will once again become the strength of the team. The Gators may not be passing as often as they did this past season, however, they'll be hard-pressed to find a void in the middle of the field, but Gilbert will be finding plenty against defenses.
In his first season at LSU, Gilbert caught 35 passes for 368 yards and two touchdowns in just eight games this year. Gilbert should have no issues matching those numbers, if not exceeding them with whatever program he suits up for next season, granted he's given immediate eligibility for 2021.
Currently, the Gators are slated to have Zipperer, Gamble, Jonathan Odom and freshmen tight ends Nick Elksnis and Gage Wilcox rounding out the group of tight ends on the roster that will likely receive some playing time in the near future.
Adding Gilbert to the group will give them plenty of breathing room to continue developing others while giving the current tight ends an opportunity to complement each other throughout the year. The position group will be important, and the Gators have an opportunity to upgrade it in a huge way.
