Gators Football a Title Contender? Some of Analysts Think So

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Gators have been trying to build their way back to being national championship contenders for a while now, but haven’t developed the right blueprint. However, 2025 could be the year they contend for it all, says On3’s Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman on the Andy and Ari podcast.

“I think that Florida, today, is a national title contender,” Wasserman said. “If you put a list of teams together that could conceivably win the national title, it’s an extensive list now and Florida’s unequivocally on it.”

Staples said that if Florida is capable of succeeding with the regular season schedule, they’ll do just fine in the College Football Playoff.

“If Florida is a playoff team, Florida is a national title contender,” Staples said. “Because if you can make the playoffs against that schedule, then you can win the games you have to win in the playoffs.”

There is one real-world problem standing in the way of their beliefs, though, and that’s the health of Florida’s star quarterback, who has yet to throw in the spring due to a nagging shoulder injury.

“Let me be perfectly clear, though, if he’s not healthy, then I am not standing by that,” Wasserman said.

It’s no surprise hearing this either. Both Staples and Wasserman have Lagway as their top college quarterback going into next season. If he’s not there, then in their minds, this team loses much of it’s hype.

“Florida’s entire roster rallied around this guy and was a completely different football team just because he existed,” Wasserman said.

As for Lagway’s health, head coach Billy Napier issued an update on that following the spring game last weekend.

“He’ll start throwing here in a couple weeks,” Napier said after the Gators spring game. “Everything is on schedule. When we start OTAs in June, he’ll be 100%.”

Another area that has this On3 duo high on the Gators is the receiver room and the talent within, specifically one of the newcomers on the roster.

While a bunch of the receivers had debuts outings last Saturday in the Orange and Blue game, true freshman Dallas Wilson had the undoubtedly the best. Wilson ended the day with game-highs in targets (13), receptions (10), yards (195) and touchdowns (two).

“Dallas Wilson is the one they went on,” Staples said. “I’m not going to compare anybody to Jeremiah Smith because that’s a one-of-one, but we can say Ryan Williams last year. If you can get Ryan Williams type production out of Dallas Wilson, which will still be asking a lot, that could be pretty amazing.”

Additionally, Wasserman added that he had some doubts about the pass catchers on the roster, but is starting to “feel a lot better now” about them after watching Wilson and the rest of them.

A former five-star wideout, Wilson has been turning heads ever since he got onto campus and has backed up all the words he’s received with this dazzling performance in the Gators spring game.

Florida has also brought in fellow freshmen Vernell Brown III, Naeshaun Montgomery, veteran J. Michael Sturdivant from UCLA and returns guys like Eugene Wilson III, Aidan Mizell and Tank Hawkins. That’s a deep room full of playmakers for Lagway to connect with.

Then, combining those guys with the running back group, it's easy to see why the Gators have tons of backers in their corner. The Gators will see running backs Jadan Baugh, Ja’Kobi Jackson and Treyaun Webb in the backfield again in 2025.

For Webb, he was out for a large chunk of the season, but the other two set the field on fire with their feet last year. Jackson ended his campaign with 509 yards and seven touchdowns while Baugh finished with 673 yards and eight touchdowns (seven rushing and one receiving).

There’s a lot to like when it comes to the Gators football team heading into next season, but actions speak louder than words. The Gators will need to prove themselves on the field and not be offseason heroes like other schools in the past, such as Florida State a season ago.

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