'25 Alive: Jacksonville-area juniors rocket up football recruiting boards for 2025 class
The fans in the stands aren't the only ones glued to every snap of the Jacksonville area's high school football schedule in 2023.
This year's top juniors could be next year's blue-chip senior prospects in the national spotlight — and, before too long, potentially stars on Saturday afternoons in college football.
For Northeast Florida, the 2025 recruiting class shapes up as one of the area's brightest for a long time. While most local juniors remain uncommitted, teams like Florida State and Alabama have already added commitments from the First Coast.
Here's a look at 25 of the Jacksonville-area players who are already on the recruiting radar of college football for National Signing Day 2025.
Under the lights: In-depth guide to Northeast Florida high school football for 2023 season
Jenoa Alford
Position: Wide receiver
School: University Christian
Height/weight: 5-10, 165.
Notable: While current Florida A&M running back Orel Gray put up the biggest numbers in UC's final four run, Alford delivered an excellent 2022 performance in his sophomore year: He caught 44 passes for 812 yards, including several for the season's highlight reel. Multiple Division I schools are interested, with Illinois among the most recent offers.
Sean Ashenfelder
Position: Quarterback
School: Creekside
Height/weight: 6-1, 180.
Notable: The dual-threat quarterback, who passed for 923 yards and rushed for 354 while splitting time with Wilson Edwards on last year's regional semifinalist Knights, has picked up offers from the likes of UCF and Pitt. Also a noted baseball prospect with a sophomore OPS of .970 and the versatility to play multiple positions on the diamond.
Jaden Boyd
Position: Athlete
School: Middleburg
Height/weight: 6-0, 180
Notable: The defense-to-offense switch is underway for Boyd, who lined up in the secondary last year but moves to the offensive backfield for a Broncos team that's coming off two excellent years on the ground for Mike Mitchell and T.J. Lane. West Virginia is an early offer for Boyd, an all-around playmaker: He picked off three passes last year, recovered two fumbles and averaged 8.5 yards per carry in part-time offensive duty.
Cibastian Broughton
Position: Quarterback
School: Fleming Island
Height/weight: 5-10, 165.
Notable: A dual-threat quarterback well worth watching, ranked in the nation's top 70 by 247Sports. He passed for 1,126 yards as a freshman and significantly improved his numbers in 2022: Broughton raised his completion percentage (54.7 to 63.3), touchdowns (7 to 16) and yards rushing (247 to 763) while cutting his interceptions to five. West Virginia and Pittsburgh are among the schools to show interest.
BJ Carter
Position: Defensive tackle
School: Middleburg
Height/weight: 6-4, 240
Notable: Like his Middleburg teammate Boyd, Carter worked his way onto West Virginia's radar in his sophomore year and more college interests could be on the way. He made things happen last year from the heart of the Broncos' defensive front, recording 46 tackles and five behind the line.
Seth Chestnut
Position: Linebacker
School: Baker County
Height/weight: 6-1, 205
Notable: Football Bowl Subdivision coaches are watching Chestnut, a tackle machine with two more years to add to his already-impressive totals at Baker County. He's got the instinct to chase down the football fast, accumulating 153 tackles — nearly a dozen per game — in his sophomore year.
Davion Dean
Position: Athlete
School: Baker County
Height/weight: 6-1, 185.
Notable: There's no doubt that Dean can make exciting things happen on the football field. The question in the long term: Which position? He intercepted seven passes in the Wildcats' secondary last year, and picked up 1,101 all-purpose yards on offense. Expect to see him getting more QB snaps in 2023. Schools with interest include Iowa State and UCF.
Jaime Ffrench
Position: Wide receiver
School: Mandarin
Height/weight: 6-2, 175.
Notable: One of the premier 2025 recruits in the southern United States, Ffrench committed in July to Alabama ahead of a host of national powers. The 247Sports composite ranks him as a five-star prospect and a top-five receiver in the country, with the physical tools to beat DBs in contests for the football and the quickness to keep them off balance in the open field. The sophomore numbers show it: 44 receptions for 671 yards. His older brother, Maurice Ffrench, grew up in New Jersey and set college records at Pitt on his way to the Canadian Football League's Ottawa Redblacks.
Martin Geary
Position: Defensive line
School: Bolles
Height/weight: 6-3, 260
Notable: The Bulldogs' pipeline on the front seven shows no sign of slowing down. After the likes of Bradley Mann, Hayden Schwartz and Garrison Butler in recent D-lines, Geary could be the next to break through, after tallying 40 tackles (six for loss) in his sophomore year. He reported his first FBS offer, from Western Michigan of the MAC, in the spring.
Tae'shaun Gelsey
Position: Wide receiver
School: Riverside
Height/weight: 6-4, 210
Notable: A two-sport star who's climbing quickly, with nearly a dozen Football Bowl Subdivision offers including Auburn. He's a tall target at wideout, catching 32 passes for 503 yards last year on a Riverside team that leaned on the ground game in 2022. Also worth watching on the basketball court, where he averaged 9.6 points per game.
Sam Hayward
Position: Athlete
School: Providence
Height/weight: 6-3, 210
Notable: Wide receiver, tight end, defensive end, outside linebacker. An all-around athlete, Hayward can do a little bit of everything, drawing early offers from the likes of Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt. He's sometimes projected as a future edge rusher, where he's listed as a top-40 recruit by 247Sports. In 2022, he caught 12 passes for 174 yards on offense, along with 12 tackles for loss and four fumbles forced on defense.
Locklan Hewlett
Position: Quarterback
School: St. Augustine
Height/weight: 6-1, 180.
Notable: Hewlett put up strong numbers as a sophomore, throwing for 2,126 yards and 23 touchdowns while completing 58 percent of his passes for the District 3-3S champions. Those stats could rise further in 2023, with the Jackets returning nearly their entire collection of running backs and receivers. Committed to Wake Forest since June, he has drawn more than 20 scholarship offers in all.
Carl Jenkins Jr.
Position: Wide receiver
School: St. Augustine
Height/weight: 6-2, 180.
Notable: A deep threat defined: Jenkins caught only 25 passes in 2022, but took eight of them to the end zone and gained an average of 21.7 yards on each reception. On an offense that returns most of its major weapons, he might be even tougher to track in 2023. UCF, Texas A&M and Wake Forest are among more than a dozen schools in the running.
Darrell Jenkins
Position: Wide receiver
School: St. Augustine
Height/weight: 6-0, 178.
Notable: Another Yellow Jackets junior receiver on the college football radar? That's right. Darrell Jenkins put up fine numbers of his own in 2022 with 18 catches for 242 yards, an average of 24 yards per reception. That kind of breakaway threat is attracting the notice of several Division I schools, including West Virginia.
Tramell Jones
Position: Quarterback
School: Mandarin
Height/weight: 6-1, 190.
Notable: Before long, Jones could be at the controls of Mike Norvell's Seminoles offense in Tallahassee. He committed to Florida State at the start of April, after two solid seasons with Mandarin and a District 1-4M title last year. Jones has some speed but doesn't run frequently, doing most of his damage with a throwing arm that racked up 2,310 yards in his junior year. In the 247Sports composite, he ranks as a top-20 quarterback and a four-star prospect.
Trenton Jones
Position: Wide receiver
School: St. Augustine
Height/weight: 5-10, 170.
Notable: The Yellow Jackets' leading pass-catcher in their district championship season in 2022, Jones reeled in 33 catches for 564 yards while scoring four touchdowns and gaining 17.1 yards per reception. Several colleges are in pursuit, including Wisconsin from the Big Ten.
Kaleb Lampkins
Position: Wide receiver
School: Bishop Kenny
Height/weight: 5-10, 185.
Notable: While Lampkins made some fine plays in his sophomore year as a Bolles receiver (27 catches, 359 yards), the return game is where he really stood out with 773 yards in all. Penn State is among the schools showing interest early, and that number could really take off depending on how Lampkins adjusts to a Bishop Kenny offense highlighted by Super 11 quarterback James Resar. They linked up for a TD in the kickoff classic on Aug. 18.
Malakhi Lewis
Position: Running back
School: Baker County
Height/weight: 5-9, 180.
Notable: Lewis transferred to the Wildcats from Stanton, where he gained more than 700 yards as the undisputed No. 1 weapon. With more balance and bigger blockers at Baker County, how many will he pick up in 2023? Lewis committed to Syracuse during his sophomore year but has since de-committed, and teams with listed offers include Florida State, Arkansas, Auburn and Penn State.
Zach Marshall
Position: Offensive line
School: Bartram Trail
Height/weight: 6-3, 273
Notable: There's a long history of Bartram Trail offensive linemen making the next step, like Brad Cecil five years ago on his way to USF and the NFL's Detroit Lions. Marshall may be next in line after helping the Bears power to a regional final berth in 2022. He's received multiple FBS offers and can also perform long snapper duties, always a plus for recruiters.
Landon Okla
Position: Tight end
School: Ponte Vedra
Height/weight: 6-2, 220
Notable: The Sharks' tight end, currently listed as a top-40 junior at the position nationally by 247Sports, is climbing the recruiting charts quickly with interest from colleges including Cincinnati, Maryland and Pittsburgh. He caught 16 passes for 215 yards in a Ponte Vedra offense that leaned mostly on the ground game (38.5 rushes per game) last season.
Joshua Patterson
Position: Defensive back
School: White
Height/weight: 6-0, 175
Notable: Another Commanders DB is on course for the next level, ranked as a top-40 safety prospect in the 247Sports composite and projected as a potential college corner by other analysts. Whatever the position, he knows how to get the football: He's grabbed three takeaways in each of the last two seasons. Older brothers Jaison (Bowling Green) and Davaughn (Wake Forest) are already in the college game.
Jyon Simon
Position: Defensive tackle
School: Raines
Height/weight: 6-3, 282
Notable: Interest is picking up rapidly over the summer for the interior defender, including major programs like Arkansas, Auburn, Texas and USC. Simon brings not only size and strength but the ability to disrupt the offense in many ways, from sacks (three and a half in 2022) to the occasional interception, as in last October's district contest against Jackson.
Kaylib Singleton
Position: Cornerback
School: Fleming Island
Height/weight: 6-2, 180.
Notable: After older brother Samuel rushed the ball for four years with the Golden Eagles on the way to Super 11 honors and college football at Florida State, Kaylib is the next Singleton in line. A cornerback who could also play safety, he recorded his first interception as a sophomore. Like his brother, he has track-caliber speed with a 100-meter time of 11 seconds flat as a freshman, and schools like Florida, Iowa and Texas A&M are among the early offers.
Hylton Stubbs
Position: Safety
School: Mandarin
Height/weight: 6-2, 190.
Notable: A hard-hitting, steamroller-style safety who applies big-time contact. Stubbs, whose older brother Harold is a redshirt freshman defensive back at Florida State, stacks up as a top-10 safety nationally in the 247Sports composite. This is his first year at Mandarin, but in two seasons as a starter at Oakleaf, he made an immediate impact with 135 combined tackles and four interceptions.
Solomon Thomas
Position: Offensive tackle
School: Raines
Height/weight: 6-3, 278
Notable: The recruiting buzz started for Thomas in his freshman year and it's only grown. That shows in his national rankings: a five-star in the 247Sports composite and a top-five offensive tackle nationwide for the 2025 class. With ratings like that, he's naturally drawing interest from nearly every major college program. He's also demonstrated that he can develop new athletic skills in a hurry, growing into a state track and field champion in the discus. Depending on how the next months unfold, Thomas could become the highest-rated O-line prospect from a Duval County public school since Cheston Blackshear at White in 1994.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: High school football: Northeast Florida junior recruits in 2025 class
