Why Florida Plans to Keep 313-Pound Freshman Heze Kent at Tight End

Listed at 6-foot-6 and 313 pounds heading into spring camp, Florida Gators freshman tight end Heze Kent is an anomaly, and like many other things that stray from the norm, a player that not many are willing to believe in.

Since adding on the weight that has made him so unique at his position, Kent has consistently had his future at tight end questioned, with projections for a shift to offensive or defensive line beginning ever since late into his Junior season at Brunswick High School (GA.). Regardless, the plan continues to be for the former top-150 signee to stick at tight end with the Gators, making his debut with the unit in Florida’s first spring practice Tuesday.

“A lot of guys can see him as a project tackle, or this or that. Like, the guy’s here to go play tight end, that's what I tell him, and he can definitely do it,” Gators tight ends’ coach Evan McKissack said. “Man, tremendous hands, can run, you know, a great – I don't even like to call it project – like he's a great football player, he's got it in him…he's been working hard and his weight’s going down, really excited about some of the terms he's making.”

313 pound true freshman tight end Heze Kent in his first practice in Gainesville.

Absolute unit. #Gators pic.twitter.com/GAYzwC6lYr
— Dylan Olive (@DylanOlive_UF) March 3, 2026

Despite his unorthodox physique, Kent has a surprising athleticism and natural ability as a receiver that helped him dominate against Georgia Division 5A competition the past two seasons, recording over 1,600 yards on a combined 78 receptions, as well as averaging 17.2 points per game on the hardwood for the Pirates as a junior.

Once rated as the seventh-best tight end prospect in the nation while listed at 250 pounds in 2024, Kent’s proven pass-catching ability seemingly still remains despite the added weight.

“The thing about Heze, he moves better than you think he would at that weight. He's got unbelievably natural ball skills. We got to get him down so he can play a high level all the time. But I'm excited about what that could look like for him,” head coach Jon Sumrall said on the outlier after the first day of camp. “... I feel like he's got a chance to be a pretty special player. He's got to put that work in and be extremely disciplined.”

A lingering foot-injury kept Kent out of early workouts this winter, yet now fully healthy, the first year Gator has already begun to make progress on a body transformation led by Florida’s staff. Tasked with losing enough weight to be able to consistently contribute at the tight end position, Kent’s chances of making an early impact as a Gator relies heavily on his ability to prepare himself physically.

"I think those things right there, implementing those challenges, even all throughout the course of the season, just makes the player grow," McKissack explained. "And he's answered those challenges, and the key is consistency, though, like, that's always the biggest thing… It's just about his ability to freaking go face each challenge each day.”

While faced with doubt about his ability to return to the shape that he was once at, Kent will clearly have the opportunity to prove himself and continue at a position that he broke onto the scene at as a recruit. Now with the advanced training and resources division one athletes at Florida have access to, the belief inside the building is that the uber-talented yet overweight prospect can make the transition needed to become a real factor at the tight end position sooner rather than later.

“He's doing some good things,” Sumrall said. “I think the more he's around our weight room program with Coach Whitt and he's with Jake Sankel, who works in our weight room and also does nutrition stuff, I think then you watch his body transform.”

Kent will have a long way to go and plenty of doubters along the way, with the true freshman one to watch this spring as he hopes to prove himself and Florida’s staff right in their gamble on his natural ability as a receiving threat at the tight end position.