Grading Florida football recruiting class: How did the Gators fare?
Florida football wrapped up National Signing Day on Wednesday with 18 incoming high school freshmen, 1 JUCO transfer and 11 Division I transfers.
The moves addressed several areas of need, including on the defensive and offensive lines of scrimmage and in the secondary.
"We were able to recruit the elite player that everybody in the country wants," Florida football coach Billy Napier said. "We were also able to play Moneyball a little bit, evaluate, find players with traits. And I think, you know, I would say this is probably the best group of players that we've had since we've been here."
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The Florida Gators added two high school players from December to February. The first was four-star defensive lineman D'Antre Robinson, a standout from Jones High in Orlando who was granted release from his letter of intent at Texas and signed with the Gators last month.
"Kind of a unique dynamic with the (Texas) defensive line coach (leaving)." Napier said. "Felt like we were really close the first time, and then able to get him back, 6-3, 315 pounds, lean, twitchy, could play on all three downs. I think he’s got good things in front of him and a lot of work to do.”
The other high school player – four-star cornerback Jameer Grimsley from Tampa Catholic – technically counts as a transfer because Alabama didn't release him from his letter of intent following the coaching change from Nick Saban to Kalen DeBoer. The 6-foot-2, 187 pound Grimsley should help UF's secondary with both his speed and size.
"He's a two-way player, a guy that played receiver as well," Napier said. "But big, long corner, heavy-handed, ball skills, was a little bit banged up as a senior, but I think we feel really good about the skill set there."
How does Florida football recruiting class rank?
247Sports Composite class rank: No. 14 overall, No. 8 SEC
Top signees: QB D.J. Lagway, No. 1 quarterback, No. 3 overall; DE LJ. McCray, No. 1 edge rusher, No. 4 overall; LB Aaron Chiles, No. 6 linebacker, No. 83 overall.
Biggest miss: McKinney (Texas) five-star safety Xavier Filsaime, who flipped from UF to Texas the week before the early signing period.
Grade: B – Florida ended up with seven top-200 national prospects out of 19 signees. It's a solid class, just not as spectacular as it could have been had four top 100 national recruits de-committed and signed with other schools.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Grading Florida Gators football 2024 recruiting class
