The Athletic reveals its thoughts on Billy Napier’s first full recruiting class
The 2023 recruiting class is Billy Napier’s first full recruiting class as the head coach of the Florida Gators. With early signing day come and gone, The Athletic’s Ari Wasserman gives his latest thoughts on the 2023 class, including what he thought of the Gators’ class.
Florida’s 2023 class truly came together over the last six months. In June, the Gators missed out on Jaden Rashada, a top quarterback prospect from California, after he chose Miami (Florida) over the Orange and Blue. The miss was the final straw for a fan base that was still jaded from close to a decade of missing out on top prospects. Napier then released an open letter to the fan base, preaching patience and understanding as he reconstricted the Florida football program.
What followed was an incredible July and August that saw the bulk of the 2023 class announce its commitment to the program. But that’s not where the recruiting stopped. After Gators had plenty of highs and lows on the field, Napier managed to flip Rashada in November, the highlight of the Gators’ 2023 recruiting class.
Here is what The Athletic’s Ari Wasserman said about the Gators’ 2023 class:
Florida’s 2023 class ranks No. 13 nationally and has no five-star prospect. If you would have told that to Florida fans before the year, they’d probably be pretty upset with Napier. But when you peel back the curtain, there’s more to the story. Florida signed 18 blue-chip prospects and its average player rating is 92.34, which is higher than eight of the teams ahead of it in the rankings. The Gators also found a way to sign four-star quarterback Jaden Rashada of Pittsburg (Calif.) High, who had a pretty hectic recruitment. Florida’s class certainly isn’t top-heavy, but when you consider that the lowest-rated player Napier signed was ranked No. 630, you have an appreciation for the quality the Gators are bringing in. Florida will eventually need to add some five-star love into the equation if it wants to compete with Alabama and Georgia, but I think this was a really solid first class.
With national signing day coming up in February, there is still time for the Gators’ to bring in more players for the 2023 class. They have also been active in the transfer portal, as over 25 players from the 2022 team have left the program via the portal or the NFL draft. With so many roster holes, it wouldn’t be a shock to see a lot of first-year players get some playing time in 2023.
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