Florida Gators recruiting is doing well and this week’s recruiting mailbag had a lot of great questions about how prospects view the Florida Gators after their close loss to the LSU Tigers last Saturday night.
As you have noticed Gator Country and Andrew Spivey have mixed things up and we have taken our Florida Gators recruiting mailbag to podcast form, as well as continuing the written version of the mailbag.
Make sure to listen as Andrew answer everyone’s questions from this mailbag and don’t forget to get your questions in every week so he can answer your question next time on all things Florida Gators recruiting.
Here’s the written version of this week’s Florida Gators recruiting mailbag:
Arob2827: Andrew,
Do you think it will be a big day at the Army All American game or the Under Armour game as far as Gator commits on tv? If so, who do you think might pull the trigger for the good guys at one of those games?
AS: The only two players who have mentioned doing anything at the Under Armour game are Nate Craig-Myers and Shavar Manuel, but there is still a chance they decide to wait. Right now the Army game doesn’t have anyone announcing that is a Florida Gators recruiting target. It will be big for the commits to be in the players’ ears though so it will be a good week.
Oragator1: Does the relative lack of names on our OL recruiting board mean the staff feels good about the freshmen, or will we see it expand?
AS: They feel really good about the freshmen on the team right now but they still want to sign 4-5 offensive linemen in this class. The board is pretty big with names like Marcus Tatum, Malcolm Pridgeon, Jauan Williams, Terrance Davis and Brandon Walton on the board already.
Gator_nica: You recently mentioned this class could turn out to be ¨unbelievable¨. Please elaborate.
AS: I just think a big class is in store for the Gators with so many big names on the board left. Names like Nate Craig-Myers, Sam Bruce, Tre Nixon, Eli Stove, Janarius Robinson… etc could make this is a great class. I think a big finish is in store for Florida.
Gotime51: Is there an alpha recruit out there that if he commits others will look real hard at where he committed?
AS: If a guy like Dwayne Haskins were to flip to Florida then others from his area would look hard at Florida. The same can be said if Mack Wilson was to commit to Florida, then others would look at Florida. Chauncey Gardner is doing a good job of that already though.
G8rmann: Time for a mock class?
AS: Not right now. December or really January.
Juggernautz: Do you think we’ll lose any of our staff to any of the head coach/staff vacancies and would it affect our recruiting if so?
AS: Coach McElwain does a good job of letting the whole staff recruit each player so not one person is truly responsible with recruiting a player on their own. I don’t think it would hurt as much as it would in the past. Right now I don’t think anyone leaves the staff, but even if someone does, I don’t think it would be that big, honestly.
Happygator: We need LB’s badly. Where do we stand with Lyndell Wilson and Aaron Hansford? Is Wilson a realistic 50/50 shot?
AS: Yes on Wilson, but the Gators have to continue recruiting him hard and keep Alabama off of him because the Crimson Tide are going to turn the heat up on him closer to signing day. Hansford needs to visit first.
Colin: Related to this: with the large numbers we brought on campus before this season, how many OL do we really need in the class, and is getting a JUCO that important to this class?
AS: If it’s a big time JUCO player that can play guard from day one, then yes, you take him but you don’t just take a JUCO to sit the bench. I think they would rather have five OL in this class but four would be ok as well.
Msgator1981: I have heard a lot of talk about three defensive tackles: Dexter Lawrence, Shavar Manuel, and Shug Frazier. What are your thoughts on the defensive tackle situation and how we end up on signing day?
AS: I think Florida gets two of those guys on the Florida Gators recruiting commit list by February. Right now I would say Lawrence and Frazier are those guys. Florida will continue to work on Manuel hard, but right now I think he goes to LSU.
Gatordon: Andrew are you expecting a strong finish with this class?
Will we land anymore Miami-Dade recruits in this class?
Which QB’s do we have the best shot at landing?
Will we see more defections and if so will we replace with equal or greater talent?
Are there recruits at other positions that have a chance to become LB’s?
AS: I think they finish strong because of the big names they are leading for right now.
I think they get Josh Uche to flip from Miami to Florida.
I think you will see more defections and the Gators get better at the position because of them leaving.
I don’t think they are recruiting anyone that can move to linebacker right now. They want four true linebackers in this class.
G8trjasonB: Let’s assume Grier doesn’t win his appeal and Treon will be our starter for at least the first 6 games next season. Obviously this ends any speculation about Treon possibly transferring after the season, which would give us four scholarship QB’s once Grier returns if you include Trask. Do you think this changes the staff’s position on needing to find a second QB if they can’t flip one of the top guys on the board?
AS: They will want to have two quarterbacks in this class in case one of Treon Harris or Will Grier decides to go elsewhere. Depth is a big key here, because you really don’t know what you’re getting out of Luke Del Rio.
FrankGator627: Any chance Nate Craig Myers plays defensive back when he gets to Florida? If we bring in all these top receivers, I could see him being a Patrick Peterson type corner for us.
AS: No, he’s a true receiver and one of the best receivers in the country. He will be a big playmaker at receiver.
Wilbur11: Maybe a vague question but here goes: if you were the UF recruiting coordinator what would your board look like? Who are the top ten targets ranked in order of priority in your opinion?
AS: I like the way the board is shaping up right now, honestly. Of course I have my opinion and a bias that would make me want a guy more than another, but the Florida staff knows what they are doing and they are doing a great job here. They have created a buzz around the program again.
Ol2ange: Which current players do you see transferring after this season? If you don’t want to name names, what primary position groups and how many transfer? (If you could break it down like this (for example): defensive back- 2, wide receiver- 3, defensive line- 1) , that’d be great.
If things start looking poorly for our defensive line board (specifically at defensive tackle), do you see us going after any JUCO players? Furthermore, are we looking at any other JUCO positions other than offensive line ? (I know we just offered that receiver/running back , but any others?)
AS: I think you will see some movement at the receiver position and maybe an offensive lineman or two move on but that’s about it.
They are only recruiting JUCO’s at offensive line and the receiver Dre Massey that they offered on Tuesday night. Not much more of a need for a JUCO guy elsewhere.
MrB-Gator: Any chance we get the kicker from Miami (Piniero)?
AS: I think Florida has a great shot at flipping Alabama kicker commit Eddy Piniero right now. He’s scheduled to visit Florida again soon and I think the Gators will continue to gain momentum here.
RVG: Do you believe that Binjimen Victor “silently” committed to Ohio State on his official visit, or is the young man still weighing his options? Not to discredit any of our other targets, but I think Victor can be a real threat in Coach Mac’s scheme.
AS: I don’t think Victor committed to Ohio State last week and I think he’s really looking at everyone.. Right now, Florida is trailing Ohio State..
Lurkingator1: Andrew TOS as of 10-28 has Victor at 75% to UF, would you put our chances of landing him that high? With all the other guys listed recently as leans in the WR group guys like (Nixon and Stove) something has got to give. It a great problem to have but I am just wonder how do you see it all working out?
AS: I have Florida at about a 30-40% chance of landing Victor right now but I think the board will work itself out once other guys commit to the Florida Gators.
Hoganmac97: Any updates on Terrell Hall? Also it seems like Sam Bruce is more solid to Miami than we previously thought…do you think he ends up a gator?
AS: Florida and Alabama are battling it out for Hall, but the Gators must get him back on campus again to have a real shot. I think Bruce sticks with the Miami Hurricanes at this point, honestly.
Philsgator: How does the fact that we as fans don’t know whether Will Grier is practicing with the team or going to team meetings affect our current recruiting situation?
AS: I really don’t see the issue with whether Will Grier is practicing or not because he can’t play right now. He hasn’t had his appeal yet so it really doesn’t matter to recruits until he hears back from the NCAA.
AS, this my be a dumb question, but where do I submit my questions for the mailbag every week, and when do they have to be in by?
Thanks.
I always post a thread on Tuesday for you to post your questions in.
Ok thanks, not sure how I’ve missed it for this long lol
Btw, I just saw where Shug Frazier committed to NC State late last night. You had said that you thought we landed both him and Lawrence. I’m hearing that Lawrence likes NC State a lot as well. Are they really a big contender for him? And do you think if we pushed hard on Frazier that we would flip him? I gotta imagine we’re slow playing him for the bigger names on our board right now.