With the college football season less than a month away, the Florida Gators are in the middle of fall camp as they are preparing themselves for the 2021 season. The Florida Gators are coming off an 8-4 season but also won the SEC East and played in the SEC Championship Game.<\/p>\n
One of the reasons Florida was so successful last season was because of their historic offense. The Florida offense was absolutely stacked last season with Kyle Pitts<\/a>, Kyle Trask<\/a>, Kadarius Toney<\/a>, and others. Pitts won the John Mackey Award (Best TE in the country), Trask was a Heisman candidate and Toney was a first-round pick.<\/p>\n Florida\u2019s offense lost a ton of quality players and will look towards the underclassmen to fill in some of the shoes that last year\u2019s started filled. Some freshmen may be counted on to be contributors this season. Here are three freshmen to watch this season for the Florida Gators’ offense.<\/p>\n Florida didn\u2019t sign a high school running back during the 2020 recruiting cycle however, they picked up one of the biggest names in the Transfer Portal. Former Clemson running back Demarkcus Bowman<\/a> is now a Florida Gator and could get a lot of touches this season.<\/p>\n During the 2019 recruiting cycle, Bowman was a five-star running back that was wanted by every school in the country. He chose to play for the Clemson Tigers over Florida and other elite programs. Bowman wouldn\u2019t last long at Clemson as he put his name in the portal after playing in two games.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t take long for Bowman to commit to the Gators once he put his name in the portal. He has been with the team since the spring. Bowman is only redshirt-freshman on this list but he could have a major impact.\u00a0 He\u2019s a very explosive back that\u2019s a true home run threat. Florida has a lot of quality running backs this season so Bowman will need to earn his carries against a crowded running back room.<\/p>\n Replacing Kyle Pitts is going to be an impossible task.\u00a0 Yet there is a freshman tight end that could make that transition a little bit easier for Florida fans. True freshman Nick Elksnis has looked terrific since he enrolled early at Florida.<\/p>\n The 6\u20196\u201d tight end out of Jacksonville was a three-star recruit committed to the Penn State Nittany Lions before flipping his commitment to Florida. Elksnis had plenty of quality offers but chose the Gators because of their tight-end Tim Brewster.<\/p>\n So far in fall camp, Elksnis has made some pretty impressive catches with Emory Jones and Anthony Richardson at quarterback. Elksnis won\u2019t be the starting tight end this season at Florida with upperclassmen like Kemore Gamble<\/a> and Keon Zipperer<\/a> ahead of him on the depth chart. With that being said, Elksnis should still get some playing time this season.\u00a0 His size and speed make him a mismatch problem. And could make him into an offensive weapon.<\/p>\n Besides losing Pitts to the draft, Florida also lost two starting wide receivers in Kadarius Toney and Trevon Grimes<\/a>. While it\u2019ll be difficult to replace a quality talent like Toney and Grimes.\u00a0 Thankfully, Florida has recruited well at the wide receiver position and has the talent to replace those guys.<\/p>\n One receiver that is starting to turn some heads for the Gators in fall camp is true freshman wide receiver, Marcus Burke. The 6\u20193\u201d 180-pound wide receiver was one of the top wide receivers in the country.\u00a0 \u00a0He had offers from some of the top college football programs in the country.<\/p>\n Burke has great size and speed to make a deep threat as he showed during his high school career. The Jacksonville native has looked pretty good in camp lately. He might have opened up the opportunity for some early playing time. Florida has some talented wide receivers however Burke might be able to get some snaps this Fall if he continues to develop and impress during camp.<\/p>\nFlorida Gators: Top Three Offensive Freshmen<\/h2>\n
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RB Demarkcus Bowman<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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TE Nick Elksnis<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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WR Marcus Burke<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n