Defensive tackle

With the spring evaluation period ongoing, the Florida coaching staff is out seeing and talking to a ton of prospects around the country.

Over the next two weeks GatorCountry.com is going to break down each position and talk about the prospects that the Gators have offered or guys that are close to an offer.

Now that GatorCountry has went through the offensive side of the ball, we will now go through the defensive side of the ball.

We will start with the defensive tackle position where the Gators would like to sign three prospects and already have one committed.

Here are the prospects that have offers:

Chesapeake (Va.) Oscar Smith defensive tackle Andrew Brown

The 6-foot-3, 298-pound Brown is one of the top defensive tackles in the country and has said he will visit Gainesville this summer. Right now it’s unclear if he will actually visit or not.

Cincinnati (Oh.) Winton Woods defensive tackle Daniel Cage

Cage is another prospect who says he will visit Florida this summer. The 6-foot-3, 275-pound Cage has a lot of interest in Florida and says he will visit a number of schools this summer before narrowing his list.

Bradenton (Fla.) Manatee defensive tackle Demarcus Christmas

The 6-foot-3, 285-pound Christmas is a Florida State commitment and the Gators haven’t been recruiting him much. Christmas is a prospect who never showed much interest in Florida.

Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade Madonna defensive tackle Khairi Clark

Florida and Miami are once again battling it out for a defensive tackle in South Florida. Last year the Gators won out for Jaynard Bostwick and they are trying to do the same with the 6-foot-2, 325-pound Clark. Clark says that Florida and Miami are tied at the top but some people close to Clark say the Gators have the slight edge.

Fayetteville (N.C.) Pine Forest defensive tackle Lamont Gaillard

The 6-foot-2, 328-pound Gaillard once had Florida as his leader but when the Gators wouldn’t offer his teammate, Gaillard eliminated Florida from contention.

Brooklyn (N.Y.) Abraham Lincoln defensive tackle Thomas Holley

Holley is a prospect Florida is very high. The 6-foot-4, 299-pound Holley says he will visit Florida in June for one of Will Muschamp’s camps. Holley will also visit Florida State and a few other schools in the south.

Covington (La.) High defensive tackle Garrald McDowell

The 6-foot-3, 257-pound McDowell received a couple of visits from Florida this spring. Right now McDowell has shown Florida some interest but it’s to be determined whether he visits Florida or not.

Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas defensive tackle Anthony Moten

The Florida commitment says he is solid to the Gators but he is receiving a ton of interest from Alabama and Miami. The 6-foot-4, 265-pound Moten plans to visit Florida in June and that visit should help the Gators solidify Moten’s commitment even more.

Carrollton (Ga.) High defensive tackle Dontavius Russell

The 6-foot-3, 298-pound Russell is a Georgia commitment and a solid one. I don’t expect Russell to visit Florida at this point.

Hialeah (Fla.) Champagnat Catholic defensive tackle Travonte Valentine

Valentine is a former Florida commitment but the two sides parted ways. Right now Florida isn’t recruiting the 6-foot-3, 286-pound Valentine very hard.

Saluda (S.C.) High defensive tackle Dexter Wideman

The 6-foot-3, 276-pound Wideman is another prospect that says he may visit Florida this summer, if he does, the Gators could become a player for Wideman.

Andrew Spivey
Andrew always knew he wanted to be involved with sports in some capacity. He began by coaching high school football for six years before deciding to pursue a career in journalism. While coaching, he was a part of two state semifinal teams in the state of Alabama. Given his past coaching experience, he figured covering recruiting would be a perfect fit. He began his career as an intern for Rivals.com, covering University of Florida football recruiting. After interning with Rivals for six months, he joined the Gator Country family as a recruiting analyst. Andrew enjoys spending his free time on the golf course and watching his beloved Atlanta Braves. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewSpiveyGC.