Florida’s 2026 schedule may be loaded with the names everybody already knows, but the Gators are also going to run into a handful of players who can do real damage without much national buzz attached to them.
That’s the danger with a schedule like this: the marquee headliners grab the oxygen, while a few dangerous pieces sit just off to the side, waiting to wreck a Saturday. South Carolina, Kentucky, Missouri, Vanderbilt and FSU all have players who don’t always dominate the conversation, but absolutely belong on Florida’s radar.
LaNorris Sellers is the name that first jumps out. He entered the 2025 season with the kind of dark-horse Heisman talk that surrounded DJ Lagway, but his year went in the wrong direction, largely because his running ability was taken away. As one SEC assistant coach told The Athletic, “I think last year they wanted to make him the first pick in the draft, so they just wanted to throw the ball with him.”
That said, if Sellers gets back to what he was in 2024, he has the kind of talent to beat Florida on his own if the Gators aren’t prepared.
CJ Baxter is another one who fits the “forgotten star” label. The former five-star back from Orlando had a solid freshman season at Texas in 2023, rushing for 659 yards and adding 156 receiving yards.
Then the injuries hit. He tore his LCL and PCL during fall camp in 2024 and missed the whole season, and last year a hamstring issue sidelined him for a month.
He finished 2025 with 54 carries for 196 yards.
Now at Kentucky, the question is simple: if Baxter stays healthy, can he look like a five-star again? If he can, Florida fans may not enjoy what that means, especially given how recent Kentucky meetings have gone when the Wildcats have leaned on the run.
Missouri has its own sleeper in Donovan Olugbode. He wasn’t really a player who fell off; he just got buried behind bigger names on the Tigers’ offense. As a true freshman, the former high four-star put up 400 receiving yards, and there’s a path for him to become a much bigger part of the attack.
That path gets even clearer if Ahmad Hardy isn’t back to 100%. And if Olugbode develops chemistry with one-time Gator commit Austin Simmons, a 700-plus-yard season in 2026 wouldn’t be a surprise.
Junior Sherrill at Vanderbilt is another receiver who deserves more attention than he’s getting. Depending on how this season plays out, there could be a real conversation about who helped who more in Nashville between Diego Pavia and Sherrill. Still, Sherrill was left off the All-SEC Preseason team even after a 784-yard, seven-touchdown season.
Could he push all the way to 1,000 yards? That’s very much in play.
Then there’s Tre Wisner at FSU, the second former Texas running back on this list. Wisner was a 1,000-yard rusher for the Longhorns in 2024 after taking over for Baxter, and he also added 311 receiving yards that season. But 2025 was a different story, with a major drop-off and real questions about whether he was a one-year breakout or even the Seminoles’ starter going forward.
Those are the kinds of players Florida can’t afford to overlook. The names may not be the ones everybody circles first, but each one has the kind of ability that can turn into a problem fast if the Gators aren’t sharp.
In Other News...
Dan Mullen May Have A Path Florida Fans Won't Want To See
Dan Mullens next chapter at UNLV is starting to look like the kind of setup that could fit him better than the one he left behind in Gainesville. The former Florida coach has been recruiting in a different lane out West, building classes in the national middle with three-star players, and the early returns suggest a program that may be tailored more to his approach than the pressure-cooker expectations that followed him at Florida.
The intrigue for Gators fans is what comes next if that fit keeps improving. CBS Sports analyst Brad Crawford recently projected UNLV as the Group of Six team in the 2026 College Football Playoff, while Florida was left out of that forecast, a reminder that Mullen still has a path to national relevance even if it comes far from the SEC spotlight. For a coach whose Florida tenure produced plenty of wins, the possibility of him climbing again in a place like Las Vegas is the kind of storyline that will not go unnoticed in the Swamp. [Read more 🡒]
Florida Quietly Made A Staff Move Fans Will Notice In Close Games
Special teams can swing a season in the margins, and Florida is making a quiet move to try to sharpen that edge before the next kickoff. Greg McMahon is set to join the Gators as a special teams analyst, bringing a long coaching rsum that includes work in both the NFL and college ranks, plus a familiar connection to head coach Jon Sumrall from their time together at Tulane.
For a team looking to be cleaner in close games, the addition adds another experienced voice to a unit that rarely gets the spotlight until it decides field position, momentum or even the final score. McMahons background at places like LSU, Tulane and with the Saints gives Florida a veteran presence behind the scenes, and it signals the staff is taking the hidden parts of the game seriously heading into the season. [Read more 🡒]
Florida Legend Sees Something In Jon Sumrall Fans Cant Ignore
Jon Sumrall has spent the offseason giving Florida fans plenty to chew on, and not just because of what he might do on Saturdays. His candid personality has landed well, and the early returns on player retention and staff assembly have helped steady a fan base that was looking for reasons to believe after a noisy coaching search. Former Florida quarterback Danny Wuerffel has noticed the shift, saying the skepticism around Sumrall has started to give way as people see how he operates.
Wuerffels support carries real weight in Gainesville, and he pointed to the way Sumrall has already made an impact beyond the practice field. Recruiting, fundraising and fan engagement all matter in this job, especially before a season even starts, and Sumrall seems to be checking boxes in each area. For a program trying to build momentum, the encouraging part is not just that he has made a good first impression, but that the people who know the job best are beginning to sound convinced. [Read more 🡒]