Florida Gators Pulling in Another Star-Studded College Football Recruiting Class
Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @RyanWrightRNG
The tops turvy end to the 2020 season aside, Dan Mullen has the Florida Gators marching back to the pinnacle of college football. In three seasons, Mullen has put together a 29-9 (19-7 SEC) record with wins in the Peach and Orange Bowl while supplanting Georgia’s three-year run as the East representative in the conference championship game. To keep the 10-win seasons piling up along with the trips to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, it all begins with recruiting.
Florida’s 2020 haul was rated ninth-best in the nation with one five-star, 17 four-stars, and five three-star prospects. The average star ranking for that class was 90.74. The 2021 class is lining up in a similar fashion with 23 total commits, one five-star, 12 four-stars, and 10 three-star players. Although ranked No. 13 overall, the average star ranking is 90.20.
A big reason for optimism among the fanbase, this class is balanced with 11 players heading to the offensive side and 12 on defense. Going deeper, a great emphasis is being placed in areas of need, in the trenches and secondary. Four offensive linemen are attached along with five on the defensive side and five in the secondary. Furthering the notion of having a class that can contribute early, 12 are already on campus.
If a Gators fan starts talking about how sick Todd Grantham’s defense will be in the future, they have good reason. Much of the “star” power has been brought in to stop SEC defenses highlighted by five-star corner Jason Marshall. Joining Marshall on campus early are four-star safeties Corey Collier and Donovan McMillon. Bringing pressure off the edge and against the run are four-stars Chief Borders, an outside backer from Heard County (GA), and end Justus Boone from Sumter (SC).
A talent that all fans want to see play is three-star defensive tackle Desmond Watson. Watson, a homegrown player from Armwood, is listed at 6-5, 380. Joining Watson for spring practices is 6-6, 290-pound, defensive tackle Christopher Thomas out of Dunbar High School in Fort Myers.
Finding the next Kyle Trask is never easy, so Mullen is bringing on two in this cycle; four-star Carlos Del Rio-Wilson from Cartersville (GA) and three-star Texas prospect Jalen Kitna out of Burleson High School.
There are six four-star players loyalist will have to wait and see during fall camp; DE Jeremiah Willams, DE Tyreak Sapp, WR Marcus Burke, OG Yousef Mugharbil, JUCO transfer Diwun Black (Mississippi Gulf Coast), and tight end Gage Wilcox.
For all the positive noise being made in the living rooms across the country by Florida’s staff, a whole other level of talent is being added via the transfer portal. Former five-star running back Demarkcus Bowman has landed in Gainesville from Clemson along with four-star defensive tackle Daquan Newkirk from Auburn and three-star DT Antonio Shelton from Penn State.
On Sunday night, the Gators found their replacement for All-American tight end Kyle Pitts in Arik Gilbert. The Class of 2020 five-star from Georgia, who was ranked fifth overall in the class, earned Freshman All-SEC honors with LSU last season ending his season third on the Tigers’ roster in receptions (35), fourth in receiving yards (368), and tied for fourth in receiving touchdowns (2) playing in eight games after opting out on Dec. 9. Gilbert announced his transfer to Florida fans via social media.
National Signing Day wraps on Wednesday, Feb. 3.
Updated: The Florida Gators closed the 2021 class with 22 commits; one five-star, 12 four-stars, and nine three-star talents. On NSD, three-star Independence JUCO guard Deyavie Hammond decommitted. Hammond has not signed with another program. The Gators “star power” ranking actual improved up to 90.38. Florida’s class is ranked fifth in the SEC.
Photo credit: Twitter; five-star corner Jason Marshall signing with Florida