Florida football: Final 2023 NFL mock draft for Gators

It kind of felt like Ventral Miller was at Florida forever. He was a freshman back in 2018 when he played in seven games and recorded 15 total tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack, and an 82-yard pick-six. He really broke out the following two years at linebacker for the Gators, recording 55 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, and three sacks in 2019 and then 86 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, and 3.5 sacks in 2020. His stock was probably at its highest then.

But he returned in 2021 and played just two games because of a bicep tear. He had a foot fracture in 2022 that he played through but still managed to finish with 74 tackles and 8.5 tackles for loss.

Scouts have to be intrigued by his toughness and I think he’s a steal in round five.

Another guy that has felt like he’s been in college forever, Justin Shorter began his career at Penn State in 2019 and played two seasons there, catching 15 total passes in 11 games, before transferring to Florida.

In three years with the Gators, Shorter 95 catches for 1,395 yards and eight touchdowns. He was rather productive but never quite lived up to his elite billing out of high school.

Still, he has great size at 6-foot-5 (weird since his last name is Shorter) and he’s a good athlete, running a 4.55 40-yard dash.

I think round five is a good spot for him, but he could always slide into the fourth.

There aren’t a ton of reports on Richard Gouraige getting drafted higher than the seventh round and a lot of draft experts even have him going undrafted as a free agent, but I just think he’s too good to not hear his name called.

Grabbing Gouraige in the seventh round is going to end up being a great move for one team and it’ll pay major dividends.