Justin Shorter Has Worked His Way Into A Florida Gators Leader Silencing Any Worries On the Transfer

Justin Shorter catches one of his three touchdowns on the 2020 season. Photo Credit: Courtney Culbreath

Dan Mullen’s first question was, “why?”

Why would a five-star receiver from New Jersey willingly enter the transfer portal to leave an iconic program like Penn State?

Why? Should he (Mullen) be concerned? Should he question the background or just go after the former five-star at a position of need? Why would this be a good fit for the Florida Gators? Why might it not?

Still, all Justin Shorter brought to the table couldn’t be passed up, so Mullen and the Gators recruited him out of the portal, getting a commitment from the redshirt-sophomore. After his arrival in Gainesville, it took little to no time for any and all concerns to be alleviated.

“I’ll be perfectly honest with you when he was in the portal. I had a bunch of hesitations,” Mullen admitted to local media on Monday. “Any time somebody goes in the transfer portal, the question’s why. So there’s always the initial hesitation…and after getting to meet him, know him and find out about him, they were quickly washed away.”

Shorter washed away hesitations for a lot of Gator coaches and fans in his first year. Stuck on the depth chart behind Trevon Grimes, and fighting Grimes, Kadarius Toney and tight end Kyle Pitts for reps, Shorter still managed to finish his first season (and an All-SEC, truncated one at that) with 23 catches for 246 yards and three touchdowns.

Wide receiver coach Billy Gonzales has put seven receivers in the NFL the past two years, continually replacing his talent, instead of needing to rebuild it. Now Shorter can lead the next group of Billy G products.

“I would say that we’re not really replacing them. I would say we’re just bringing a new crop of wideouts in that are well-trained,” Shorter predicted ahead of fall camp. “I’d say our group is young, but we’re all hungry. Everyone is out there putting in the extra work to really be that big group. We’re really putting in that work and we’re all just pushing, trying to be great.”

For every day this young group puts in the extra work—to stand out on what is predicted to be a run heavy team—they are following the example Shorter is setting. It’s been his greatest asset to the Gators, according to Mullen, and will make the biggest difference for the receiving corps this upcoming fall.

“If you ask most of the people on our team and even the coaching staff, is his work ethic of how he comes to work every single day,” Mullen said of Shorter. “From the minute at the start of practice to the end, he is grinding, giving you everything that he has.

“You go around and ask guys around our program, ‘hey, no one outworks that guy.’ But that’s what our program is known for. Then you realize, this guy is the exact fit of what we were looking for when he became available in the portal.”

This was a strategy Shorter began to put in last offseason, when the new guy was left bereft, unable to create chemistry with his new teammates and stuck at home while the world was in quarantine for a global pandemic. He knew to be ready, he had to stay ready.

“It was different but every day I was outside running routes with a quarterback back home. Once I did get back here in the summertime, Coach G did a great job of getting me right with all the plays and all the stuff like that. I feel like everything wasn’t all that bad.”

With a full offseason under his belt with the Florida Gators though, and now reports of an excellent fall camp emerging, Shorter is shaping up to be the next great transfer receiver—in line with Grimes and Van Jefferson—to lead the Gators. It’s a by-product of the work he’s put in to get to this point, and the rewards will be reaped soon.

“The great thing of that is you see it in the results. I think he’s playing at a much, much higher level than he did last year. Much more consistent level, much bigger playmaker level, than he did last year,” bragged Mullen. “It’s not a surprise with how hard he works day in and day out, you see that improvement.”

Added Shorter, “My thing is ever since I started playing football in high school, I haven’t stopped working. Setbacks happen, but as long as you keep on working, keep on working, it’s gonna come through.”