Florida Gators recruiting mailbag: October 27th edition

Gator Country’s popular Florida Gators recruiting mailbag is back to its weekly spot on Thursday’s as we answer your recruiting questions.

The Gators recruiting class is off to a great start in 2017 and look to be setting their selves up for another top class.

This week members had a lot of questions on the status of the Class of 2017 and we answer your questions here.

Remember to get your questions in on Tuesday for the Florida Gators recruiting mailbag each week.

 

Haljordan: Reuben Unije is a name I’m seeing a lot all of a sudden in regards to the Gators. Do we have a legit shot at this 2018 offensive tackle?

AS: Florida is the leader here and the Gators have been getting him on campus a lot lately. He’s one of the top lineman in the country for next year as well. 2018 is a good year for 2018 offensive line recruiting.

 

Dhainer24: Do you see us changing the type of quarterback we are recruiting? It seems like the vast majority of successful offenses have quarterbacks. I am not saying Mac’s offense can’t work, but when you have a quarterback who can’t hurt you with their legs, it allows for an offense to be “not perfect”. They can make things happen when the play doesn’t work as it was supposed to. I like Jake Allen and he loves the Gators and has been committed for a long time, but with our #1 target for the next year (Sitkowski) struggling, does it allow us time to look at some other guys…maybe a guy that is a dual-threat? Who are the targets for 2018 other than Artur Sitowski? Alabama has always been considered the model pro-style offense, and even Nicky can see the benefit of a guy like Hurts, then maybe we can change too.

AS: Florida is still looking at several guys in 2018 and that includes several dual threat guys. One dual threat guy that they’re still working hard on is Ohio State dual threat commit Emory Jones. I do think that Mac will look at some guys that can do both because that’s how football is going right now.

 

Gatorfanseth: Early enrollees….who is doing it out of our commits and targets…and how many can we have?

AS: Tight end Kemore Gamble, cornerback Shawn Davis, defensive tackle Javier Edwards, athlete Kadarius Toney, linebacker James Houston. Adarius Lemons, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Jerry Jeudy, Navuaghn Donaldson, Alex Leatherwood and Anthony Hines are expect to early enroll as well.

 

Jmike131014: If we miss on Blake Barnett do we go after any more 17 quarterbacks or do you think staff is still sold on Jake Allen ?

AS: I think it’s Allen and that’s all unless you land a big time transfer like Barnett. I know that Doug Nussmeier is working on Barnett and they’re close so their is a chance there.

 

Gatorsak: Are we in good shape with Donovan Peoples-Jones?

AS: Michigan/Florida battle right now but the Gators need a big official visit with him when he visits. Florida has a chance but the hometown team has to be the favorite because of distance.

 

Ufsports24_7: We need 4 linebackers this cycle w/Houston essentially being a redshirt next year, give me the 4 names you see us getting come February based on where things stand now.

AS: Houston and Miller are going to be in the class from everything I’ve heard. I think they add Rahyme Johnson and that’s probably it. I don’t think they need four this year honestly. They’re still in the hunt for Levi Jones and Anthony Hines but I right now I don’t have them coming to Florida.

 

Hogtown: Have you heard anything from behind the scenes about Shaun Wade, considering Mac just visited him. I saw that he scheduled an official visit to Alabama on the same day as the OSU-Michigan game. What do you make of that news?

AS: We wrote a story about on Saturday and I said that he would visit Florida for an official visit in December so that’s good news. Wade is going to Ohio State earlier for his official visit so I don’t see that as too big of news honestly. Florida is working hard on Wade and his family I think the Gators have a better chance than most think.

 

Ufsports24_7: What defensive ends do you like our chances with the most out of Jarez Parks/Jordan Wright/Markaviest Bryant/Labryan Ray?

AS: I would rate the chances like this, Wright, Bryant, Parks then Ray. With Parks I don’t think his recruitment really starts until he takes official visits. I think if Ray goes to Alabama like we all think then Florida has a great shot with Parks.

 

Macbgator: Any new info on our offensive line prospects??

AS: Navaughn Donaldson says he’s taking an official visit to Florida for the Carolina game, JUCO OL D’Marcus Haynes has an official visit set up. Florida still working on Michigan commit Kai-Leon Herbert and Alabama commit Alex Leatherwood.

 

Gatore82: Do you see most of remaining possible Gators commits coming before or after the All American Games?

AS: After unless they’re early enrolling. You will see guys take official visits in January and then commit during that month.

 

Gatorfanseth: Anything new on Devon Hunter?

AS: I think he’s starting to lean more and more towards Virginia Tech. The Gators are hoping to get him down for the Carolina game and an official visit. I would say an official visit is likely but I don’t think you get him down twice.

 

Gatorfanseth: Anything new on Brad Stewart?

AS: Stewart is just focusing on his high school team and won’t take visits until after the season. The Gators will get an official in January and Florida is still in good shape here. Arkansas and Georgia are working him hard too.

 

Gatorfanseth; Anything new on Tyrone Truesdell?

AS: He says he’s going to take visits to South Carolina, Auburn and Florida but doesn’t have a timetable on his decision. Still think the Gators look good here.

 

Gatorfanseth: Anything new on Rahyme Johnson from California?

AS: He will be in town for the South Carolina game and then will return for an official visit in January. Johnson wants to commit at the Under Armour game.

 

Gatofanseth: Anything new on Tray Bishop?

AS: Nothing new from the last time we ran the story on him two weeks ago. Bishop is scheduled to visit for the South Carolina game and then return for an official visit. Florida, Georgia and Auburn are battling here. I think it’s really a two team race between Florida and Auburn

 

Jacobrenda: Artur Sitowski having a bad year?

AS: Not lighting it up on the stat sheet but teams are still very high on him because of his game. Sitkowski has a good arm, good foot work and is a student of the game.

 

Shade45: What’s the latest on WR recruiting?

AS: The guys to focus on are Alabama commit Jerry Jeudy, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Henry Ruggs and James Robinson. The Gators have Daquon Green committed already and they would like to add one or two more to the class. I think the Gators wait until January to make a decision on Robison but the other three are all scheduled to take officials to Florida. Jeudy and Peoples-Jones are early enrollees so you will know your fate on them in December.

 

Twondiddy: I know we aren’t out front with ’18 Trevor Lawrence, but is it one of those scenarios like Shaun Wade, where the key players are working behind the scenes? Or is still all UGA/Clemson?

AS: Offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier is working on him a lot and visited him last week. Right now I would say Florida, Georgia and Clemson are the three schools with a chance but Georgia and Clemson are out ahead now. The longer this goes and the more Florida can get him on campus the better the chances get.

 

74gator: Any chances of flipping Jerry Jeudy? Bama has now turned to a quarterback that likes to run and the pass will not be as featured as it has been for the last 4 years in their offense. Is Jeudy looking to play in a wide open passing offense where he can be featured or is okay playing in an offense with a run oriented quarterback?

AS: Florida is still pushing hard for Jeudy and will get an official visit from him. I would say it’s a slim chance he flips but still a chance and with an official visit coming up, anything can happen. Jeudy does want to be a feature receiver that gets the ball a lot.

 

Ufsports24_7: With Adarius Lemons out of class, does Mac go after another running back such as AJ Davis/Devan Barrett, or are we good there?

AS: I don’t see Davis or Barrett being in this class but I do think that Mac and company will look for a second running back for 2017.

 

Khc_dad: I read an article on TOS that said something about how Florida is lacking a big time recruiter on staff, that we have several solid recruiters, but no big time recruiters. Would you agree with that, and if so what coaches at different schools would you consider top notch recruiters?

AS: Florida has two top notch recruiters on the staff and they’re Tim Skipper and Chris Rumph. Both of these guys can go to any area in the country and recruit and recruit well. Florida has Kerry Dixon and Torrian Gray that are also good recruiters but are still getting their name out as far as recruiting in the SEC goes. To me a top notch recruiter is a guy that can go to all areas and recruit well and land big name players.

 

 

Twondiddy: With us letting Kirk Callahan go last year, your opinion, you think that will affect us getting prospects out of Armwood being his father is the head coach?

AS: I think it would have had been a lot worse had McElwain and area recruiter Chris Rumph not went straight to Armwood and explained the situation shortly after the firing. I’m sure things aren’t as good as they were because of the situation but things aren’t bad enough that he will stop players from coming to Florida.

 

 

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.