The early signing period for the Florida Gators is over and Dan Mullen and his coaching staff had a very successful Wednesday.
Mullen and his staff signed 20 prospects on Wednesday and they have one prospect in Diwun Black committed but not signed as he will sign in February.
Now that the Gators have finished up with the early signing day, they’re able to regroup and look at what needs they need for the February signing period.
On Wednesday Mullen addressed those needs in his post signing day press conference.
“I think it’s a great start and I think we strengthened a lot of certain areas with talent and depth for the future and then there’s other areas, you know, that we still have, you know, we still need to fill several spots,” Mullen said. The main areas that — that I think we have to — that we’re going to look to focus on and as we continue in this — to the second signing is going to be — is obviously going to be secondary and defensive line for us.
Defensive line and secondary are keys for the Gators going forward but Florida will also look at few other guys at different positions.
GatorCountry brings you a look at some of the top prospects remaining that the Gators are recruiting.
Defensive line targets
Florida State defensive line commit Quashon Fuller-Fuller has visited Florida several times in the past and plans to take an official to Gainesville in January. Fuller has said in the past that Florida needed to work its relationship with his mom and that will be key during January’s official visit. Auburn is also working hard on Fuller.
Mississippi State defensive line commit Charles Moore-Moore hasn’t visited Florida before but he says that he wants to visit Gainesville in January. Moore is also very interested in Tennessee and right now the Vols have the best shot at flipping Moore.
Mississippi State defensive line commit Nathan Pickering-Pickering has visited Gainesville several times in the past and took an official visit to Florida in November. Pickering is also drawing a lot of interest from Alabama but the defensive lineman has said in the past he has the best relationship with Dan Mullen.
Alabama defensive line commit Byron Young- Young didn’t sign on Wednesday with Alabama as their some concerns about the number of lineman the Crimson Tide are taking this year. Young took his one and only visit to Gainesville this fall and the Gators need get him back on campus again to have any real shot here.
Defensive lineman Smith Vilbert- Vilbert picked up an offer from Florida back in the late fall and says he’s going to visit Gainesville in January. Vilbert announced a top four earlier this month of Florida, Penn State, Syracuse and Oregon with Boston College also in the mix. Oregon and Penn State have already received visits from Vilbert.
Defensive back targets
Florida State defensive back commit Akeem Dent-Dent has long been a huge target for Florida but the Gators haven’t received must momentum with the FSU commit. However there’s some talk that Dent could visit Gainesville in January as his Florida State commitment has been shaky for a few months now.
Defensive back Kaiir Elam-Elam will also visit Gainesville in January and most believe that his recruitment will come down to Florida or Georgia with the Gators holding a slight edge right now. Elam doesn’t say much about his recruitment but his relationship with the Gators has improved a lot over the last few months.
Florida State defensive back commit Travis Jay-The long time Florida State commit didn’t sign on Wednesday with FSU because he didn’t have time to visit Tallahassee officially. That also allows other schools like Florida to possible get a visit. Safeties coach Ron English went in-home with Jay in December and there’s a chance that Jay will visit Gainesville in January.
Defensive back Chris Steele-Steele has already made a decision on his future but won’t announce that decision until the All-American game in January. Florida and Oregon are the two schools most talked about in Steele’s recruitment.
Big offensive target
Athlete commit Mark Antony-Richards-Richards is one of the Gators top targets no matter the position and someone Dan Mullen wants badly in Gainesville. Richards likes Auburn, Florida and Miami a lot and all three should get officials in January. The Gators are the team that has gained the most momentum as of late with Richards.
One quick note, I expect that several new names will appear on the board as Dan Mullen tries to fill some much needed needs before February.