Dooley’s Dozen: Florida football’s 12 best 3-star recruits in last 10 years
Let me start with a caveat here – nobody is saying that a college football team at the SEC level should be building a team with three-star recruits.
We just know that you can’t dismiss them.
Florida’s latest class only has two of them, although the haul in the transfer portal is full of them.
But that’s the key, seeing in a player what the recruiting services don’t see and developing that talent.
You’d still rather be able to recruit like Alabama, but first, you have to win more than six games a year. It’s a chicken/egg thing.
Anyway, that’s a long way to get to the point of this Dooley’s Dozen, the 12 best Florida players in the last 10 recruiting classes (not including this one) who were three-stars that Florida was able to develop into guys playing with five-star ability.
Ventrell Miller, 2017
AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack
Miller will go down as one of my favorite players ever at Florida because of his effort and leadership. Oh yeah, there were all of those tackles, too. There were times last season when it seemed as if he was the only one on defense giving his all. But he always did.
Kyle Trask, 2016
Tom Pennington/Getty Images
Yes, we know why Trask was so undervalued, but give credit to Doug Nussmeier for seeing something in the high school back-up. The 2020 season was one of the most incredible I’ve seen from a quarterback and now we hope to see what he will do as Tom Brady’s successor.
David Reese, 2016
Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports
Like Miller, if Reese was down, Florida’s defense looked different. On the list of players I would want to meet a running back in the hole and stuff him on third down, Reese is right near the top. So physical and smart.
Kadarius Toney, 2017
Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
I can’t remember who first said that Toney ran like his ACLs were made from rubber bands. You would have to put him among the most exciting players ever at UF even though he missed some time with injuries. You just had to get the ball in his hands. And now, he is a Super Bowl hero.
Jarrad Davis, 2013
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
I’m not trying to be critical of the people who give the stars, but Davis was the 496th-ranked player in the country when he was choosing a college. Will Muschamp saw a kid who hadn’t stopped growing and he went on to be a first-round pick in the NFL draft.
Quincy Wilson, 2014
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Teez Tabor was the star recruit of this class, but the guy who ended up playing on the other side in the secondary was considered only the 49th-best player in the state of Florida. Instead, he was part of the reason Florida got involved in the “DBU” argument.
Jachai Polite, 2016
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
It is pretty amazing the number of three-stars that [autotag]Jim McElwain[/autotag] recruited who ended up being great players for Florida. Polite was ranked in the 700s nationally and went on to be one of only two players to get within shouting distance of Alex Brown’s single-season sack record. He also finished his career with 41.5 tackles for a loss.
Evan McPherson, 2018
Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports
Yes, we have a couple of kickers on here (although I feel bad leaving out Jeremy Crawshaw). McPherson was originally going to Mississippi State but when [autotag]Dan Mullen[/autotag] came to Florida, McPherson flipped. Then, he became arguably the best kicker in Florida history and a playoff hero for the Bengals.
Kingsley Eguakun, 2019
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The ratings had him as the 40th-best offensive guard in the country coming out of Jacksonville. All he has done is start 26 straight games for the mighty Gators and helped re-establish Florida as a school that can block somebody.
Jawaan Taylor, 2016
Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports
This is based on two things – he was a three-star who ended up being a second-round NFL draft pick and he is still starting for the Jaguars. He was a little erratic at Florida but had some incredible games where he dominated elite pass rushers.
LaMical Perine, 2016
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The folks in Alabama said Perine wasn’t fast enough to play in the SEC. That was proven to be false when Auburn’s defenders couldn’t catch him in 2019 on his 88-yard run. Perine finished eighth all-time in Florida history in rushing yards.
Eddy Pineiro, 2016
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
That was some class for [autotag]Jim McElwain[/autotag] even though there were a ton of three stars on it. Pineiro is also in that argument for best kickers in Florida history and certainly had the leg to make Gator fans think they were in scoring range once the Gators passed the 50.
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