Between spring practice and junior days, the Florida Gators hosted well over 100 prospects and those efforts have a lot of recruits thinking about the Orange and Blue.
Last week we broke down the offensive side of the ball so this week we will break down the defensive side of the ball. We started with the defensive line and linebackers position and now we will go to the back end of the defense and the defensive backs.
Florida would like to sign two to three corner backs and one or two safety prospects during the class of 2016 and the Gators currently have a commit at each position as they head on the road for the evaluation period this week.
Defensive back commits
CB Chauncey Gardner(5-11,190, Cocoa, FL High)
Commitment Status: Gardner says he’s solid to Florida but he also admits that he wants to take other visits this summer. While there is some reason to question how solid Gardner is to Florida, I’m actually pretty comfortable with his commitment to Florida due to his relationship with the coaching staff at Florida, plus his parents relationship with the staff.
Safety Spencer Perry (6-3, 202, Bradenton, FL IMG Academy)
Commitment Status: Perry is also very solid to Florida but he has taken a few visits to Auburn as of late and there is some question as to how serious Perry is looking at Auburn at this time. One thing that’s for sure is that Perry has a good relationship with defensive backs coach Kirk Callahan and Perry is also recruiting for the Gators pretty hard right now.
Cornerbacks with offers
Carlos Becker (6-3, 185, Kissimmee, FL Osceola)
Teams in contention: Florida, Florida State, Miami, Kentucky, NC. State and Ohio State are all schools that are recruiting Becker hard at this time but he has backed away from naming any leaders.
What are Florida’s chances: Florida State is the team to beat early on for Becker but the Gators are starting to recruit Becker hard and he plans to visit more this summer. The longer Becker’s recruitment goes the better Florida’s chances are.
Chad Clay (5-11, 169, Suwanee, GA Peachtree Ridge)
Teams in contention: Florida, Georgia and Georgia Tech make up Clay’s top 3 schools after his spring visits.
What are Florida’s chances: Georgia is the team to beat early on for Clay but he does plan to make another trip to Gainesville before he makes a decision. The Gators need him to return to Florida if they want to have a legit chance here.
Trayvon Mullen (6-2, 156, Coconut Creek, FL High)
Teams in contention: Florida, Florida State, LSU and Ohio State are all schools that Mullen is high on but he has yet to name any kind of top list and he has a summer long list of visits planned.
What are Florida’s chances: LSU and Florida State are considered the teams to beat early on but Mullen does admit that he’s building a better relationship with Florida’s new staff and he plans to visit Florida again this summer. Mullen plans to take his recruitment long into the fall so Florida has time to get squarely in the mix.
Safeties with offers
Romeo Finley (6-1, 202, Niceville, FL High)
Teams in contention: Miami, Florida, Florida State, Auburn and Clemson are all schools that Finley’s mentions as recruiting him hard this spring.
What are Florida’s chances: Finley hasn’t taken many visits this spring so it’s really tough to get a true feel on where Florida, or anybody, stands. One thing is for sure is that he has a lot of interest in Florida and he talks to the Gators coaching staff quite a bit.
The board will get much bigger this spring once Florida is out on the road and gets to see more kids in action.