Florida, Long-Time Billy Napier QB Target Walker Howard Transfers to Ole Miss
LSU freshman quarterback Walker Howard announced on Wednesday that he will transfer to Ole Miss after officially entering the transfer portal last week.
Walker was considered the No. 5 quarterback in the class of 2022 by the 247Sports composite rankings and one of the top passers to enter the transfer portal this offseason.
ESPN reported after Howard's portal entry that Florida was considered one of his potential landing spots, along with TCU. Jordy Culotta, a Louisiana radio host who has a relationship with Gators head coach Billy Napier, also reported last Friday that Florida had "made a pretty big move" in Howard's recruitment and had gripped his attention.
However, the Rebels were able to secure a visit from the class of 2022 signal-caller over the weekend, according to 247Sports, and head coach Lane Kiffin sealed the deal on Howard's transfer recruitment.
The Gators' interest in Howard shouldn't have come as much of a surprise, for multiple reasons.
Howard's first college scholarship offer came from Napier's then-Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns in the summer of 2019, his hometown university as Howard played high school ball at St. Thomas More just 15 minutes down the road.
An LSU legacy, Howard committed to the Tigers just over a year after receiving Napier's offer. That didn't stop Howard from considering Napier prior to signing his National Letter of Intent.
After LSU and former head coach Ed Orgeron announced a parting of ways near the end of 2021, around the same time Florida fired Dan Mullen and replaced him with Napier, Howard surveyed his options for a final time before making his college decision absolute. Florida was among the programs that reached out.
At the time, he was outspoken about his relationship with Napier in an interview with On3 Sports.
“I have a great relationship with coach Napier,” Howard said during the Nov. 28, 2021 interview, the day Napier was hired by Florida. “He was my first offer and have always stayed in touch.”
Howard's loyalty to LSU paid off for new Tigers head coach Brian Kelly at the time, though, as he remained true to his commitment and signed with the program. Florida wound up with Ohio State transfer Jack Miller III and late-blooming high school prospect Max Brown to fill out its quarterback room in the weeks to follow.
Miller and Brown are now significant members of Florida's future at the position, and Walker could have been as well.
It's been well documented that Florida has experienced significant turnover at quarterback entering the 2023 offseason, which cleared the room necessary to potentially acquire Howard. First, backup Jalen Kitna was dismissed from the team for his November arrest, then starter Anthony Richardson declared for the 2023 NFL Draft days later.
The plan to replace the two passers was to welcome Wisconsin transfer and rising senior Graham Mertz and sign elite prospect Jaden Rashada from the high school level. The Gators also maintain the commitment of 2024 signal-caller DJ Lagway, although he is scheduled to enroll at UF a year from now.
Only half of the short-term ploy was accomplished, though. Mertz's transfer was completed, but Rashada never enrolled at UF and reportedly requested release from his Letter of Intent on Tuesday.
Therefore, barring a last-second addition like Howard would have been, Florida will enter 2023 spring practices with three scholarship quarterbacks available: Mertz, Miller and Brown. Brown's spring availability is likely to be limited after he joined the Gators' baseball team last week.
Florida will also have two walk-on quarterbacks present during the spring: Rising redshirt junior Kyle Engel and incoming freshman Parker Leise.
While the team will have five arms to get through spring practices, the current projection of Florida's 2023 quarterback room is that it will be undermanned. Napier made it clear last month that his goal is to have four scholarship quarterbacks on the roster during the season.
"We’d like to have four. I think in today’s era with all the attrition at quarterback within the portal sometimes you even get up to five," Napier said on Dec. 8, 2022. "I think that’ll be the objective there. Somewhere in that range.”
Howard was, almost inarguably, the best fit for the fourth spot following the attrition Florida has experienced over the last month. Instead, he'll presumably compete with Jaxson Dart to start for the Rebels in 2023 and beyond.
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