Florida Gators offensive line recruiting board

Florida Gators coach Jim McElwain  hit the road recruiting on Monday and he was on the hunt for players to fill out the Class of 2015.

Gator Country is going to do a break down of the prospects that Florida is likely to pursue under McElwain and we are going to breakdown them down into multiple parts.

To be clear this is just Gator Country’s opinion and not the opinion of the Florida Gators coaching staff.

On Sunday we talked about the quarterback position and on Monday we talks about playmakers so now we are going to head to the trenches and talk about the offensive line.

 

Offensive lineman

Martez Ivey (6-5, 271)- Ivey has long said that Florida and Auburn were his top two schools but Ivey has also been very vocal about his love for the Florida Gators growing up. With McElwain now at Florida I expect the Gators to get Ivey back on campus again and going forward I like the Gators chances here.

Isaiah Prince (6-6, 270)- Prince visited Florida for Friday Night Lights in July and left saying Florida and Alabama were his top two but that has since changed and Alabama is his leader but the Gators have been keeping in touch with him. Florida will definitely try to get an official visit from Prince.

Tyree St. Louis (6-5, 300)- St. Louis is committed to Miami but is giving Florida a serious look and is talking about an official visit to Florida. St. Louis is also expected to talk to Jim McElwain soon.

JUCO tackle Jamal Danley (6-5, 305)- Danley was going to visit Florida for the South Carolina but didn’t but the Gators have been in touch with him about a potential visit. Florida needs a couple of JUCO bodies in this class but it will be tough to pull the Oklahoma commit.

Abdul Bello (6-5, 298)- Bello is committed to Florida State but those close to him want him at Florida and the Gators are likely to get an official visit in January for the big offensive tackle.

Christian Pellage (6-6, 291)- Pellage is committed to South Carolina but he was one of the first prospects that new coach Jim McElwain visited on Monday. Pellage is solid to Florida but if Florida starts recruiting him hard than things could change.

JUCO tackle Martinas Rankin (6-4, 295)- Rankin is talking about visiting Florida this weekend as he’s an early enrollee and has to decide soon. Right now Florida, Ole Miss and Mississippi State are on top so getting him in this weekend would be huge.

Jalen Merrick (6-5, 295)- Merrick received the first in-home visit from McElwain and the Gators and FSU are battling for him. Merrick has been favoring Florida for sometime now but with the uncertainty at Florida he was cautious of the Gators. That should change now.

 

I also expect more names to be added to this list as McElwain starts watching more tape and seeing more prospects.

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.

3 COMMENTS

  1. I think the most important thing for McElwain to do is announce if he is retaining anyone from the Muschamp regime. He’s had time to interview them and needs to make a decision quickly. No one is going to say yes without knowing who their position coach will be. It’s also a possibility that an assistant he hires from another program can bring one or two recruits with him. Time is slipping by, it’s now the 9th, the dead period begins the 15th. Right now UF is just treading water with an awful class, it’s time to start swimming, even if it is upstream.

    • McElwain is to busy recruiting to announce any hiring or dismissal. Kids are going to commit to a head coach most of the time. I expect news on coaches to start being announced next week.

  2. I think it will hurt UF’s chance to get an early enrollee like Jalen Merrick if he decides to choose someone other than Summers to be the offensive line coach, for one. If he decides to go in another direction, there will be no chance for him, or others, to meet their position coach before enrolling. That’s the reason that I feel it’s a matter of putting the cart before the horse if recruiting players comes before the players actually know who will be coaching them at theor position. Maybe McElwain already knows and is telling the players, but for whatever reason is not making his decisions public yet.