Gators Have Lone Rep on On3’s Way Too Early CFB Top-100 players List

The lone Florida Gators player to be named to this top players list is the one of the most obvious choices on the team

The most obvious player made this top-100 list | Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

With the 2025 college football season now officially at its end, the time has come for ‘way-too-early’ college football rankings and predictions for next year, with On3’s Clark Brooks ranking just one Florida Gators player in his way-too-early top-100 college football players for 2026.

Gators junior running back Jadan Baugh was the only Florida player to earn a mention in the rankings after a career 1,170-yard rushing season in 2025. The talented back landed as the 17th best player overall and third-ranked running back behind Ole Miss’ Kewan Lacy and Missouri’s Ahmad Hardy. 

“The last game Jadan Baugh played, he totaled 264 yards on 39 attempts for two scores. Breaking 13 tackles along the way, only Emmitt Smith holds a more prolific stat line in Florida history.” Brooks wrote about his ranking of the Gators back. “With ground-oriented Buster Faulker now in charge of the offense, Baugh is destined to be the primary focus of the Gators’ attack. And for good measure, 65 percent of the 6-foot-1, 231-pound star’s production the last two seasons has come after contact.”

Baugh was one of the more important and extensive retention efforts for new Gators head coach John Sumrall after getting to campus this winter. The talented running back was rumored to be considering the transfer portal before later announcing he would return to the program.

“Being a Gator means everything to me. I still remember the first time I walked into The Swamp in uniform for my first spring game. It just felt different—almost like a heartwarming feeling—and I knew right then that this was the place for me,” the rusher said after his decision.

Now the main piece of a talented offense in Gainesville in 2026, Baugh is expected to have an even better season than his last, with an exciting new offensive coordinator calling plays and an offense anticipated to be much more productive in the new year. Despite the new staff, the impressive back looks likely to receive the same trust he saw in 2025 as a premier workhorse in the backfield. 

“I watched (the FSU) game Saturday before I went and played Saturday, and I'm like, hey, can I give the ball to (Baugh) ten more times because if an offensive coordinator doesn't know what to do, that's a pretty good choice," Sumrall said on Baugh. "He's a proven player, a frontline player in the SEC. I have a lot of respect for what he's done.”

While Florida’s roster features a bevy of young talent on top of Baugh, including standout freshman Vernell Brown III, Jayden Woods and Dallas Wilson, the Gators were one of just five SEC programs to have one or fewer players included on the list. Kentucky and Mississippi State also had just one mention, while Vanderbilt and Arkansas had none. 

Regardless, Florida’s roster has enough talent to make for some glaring omissions if everything goes right in 2026.