The Florida Gators signed 22 players on Wednesday’s portion of early signing day, but perhaps the biggest signature was from quarterback Jaden Rashada. The California product is Florida’s highest rated signee, according to multiple recruiting services.
“Can’t compliment Jaden enough relative to who he is as a person, as a leader, his character,” Billy Napier said on Jaden Rashada during his early signing day press conference. “Jaden is a guy who came here and fell in love with the University of Florida and really connected with a lot of people here. It was sincere. Certainly comes from an unbelievable family, his mom, his dad, his sister. Just nothing but respect for them and the young man that they’ve raised.”
Rashada held 32 offers, but the race for the 6-4, 185 pound QB came down to Florida vs Miami.
Rashada took official visits to both schools in June before committing to Miami on June 26th, just five days after his visit with the Hurricanes. That wasn’t the end of the story for the Gators.
Roughly five months later, Rashada decommitted from Miami and committed to Florida on November 10th. Despite the back-and-forth battle for the highly touted QB prospect, Napier always felt the connection with Rashada was strong.
“I think we felt like the connection is real, and we felt like there was something there. We felt we were really close,” Napier said.
“Obviously a lot goes into these decisions, but certainly as time went on, we were consistent there, and I think the things that — there was common ground, and I think the connection was real. Just think there’s a high level of trust on both ends there. I’m really excited about what he’s going to bring to our team.”
Napier isn’t just excited about Jaden Rashada’s leadership and character traits, but his football abilities as well.
“One of the more highly regarded quarterbacks in the country,” Napier said. “ I think the ball really jumps out of his hand. He’s a junkie. He loves the game. He’s all about the work. I think he’s got a good sturdy frame that we can add weight to. Just been very impressed with his approach. Certainly excited he’s going to be here in January.”
In his senior season, Rashada completed 62.4% of his passes for 3,055 yards, 32 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions, all while adding 419 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on the ground.
“He had a fantastic senior year, made a huge playoff run. Came up a little short in the state title there, but just phenomenal run there as a senior. That’s always a good sign,” Napier said.
Billy Napier and the Gators staff added Wisconsin QB Graham Mertz to the roster via the transfer portal. Mertz joins Rashada, Max Brown, and Jack Miller in the QB room. Napier claims they will look to add a preferred walk-on QB to the roster so they can have five bodies to work with.
Rashada may not be the starter from day one, but the path to early playing time is crystal clear for the newest Florida Gators QB.