Top five defensive targets for the Florida Gators in the Class of 2022

The Florida Gators coaching staff is gearing up for a big Friday Night Lights event on July 30th that will be followed by a cook-out on Saturday following the event.

Dan Mullen and his coaching staff are expecting many of their commits to be in town as well as several of their top targets remaining in the 2022 class.

GatorCountry looked at their top five targets on the offensive side of the ball on Wednesday and now we will look at the top five targets on the defensive side of the ball.

This is the top five targets in our opinion remaining on the defensive side of the ball not including the current commits and these are in no order.

 

Defensive lineman Walter Nolen-Nolen is an easy one to add to this list as he’s one of the top players in the country no matter the position and would be a huge get for Mullen. Nolen visited Gainesville twice in June and a decision before the start of the season is possible as the Gators are battling Michigan and others for his signature. Nolen has really connected with the Gators coaching staff as well as several players on the team and the Gators have a legit shot at landing the defensive lineman. Florida is working to get Nolen on campus for Friday Night Lights.

Defensive lineman Jamari Lyons- Lyons also took two visits to Gainesville in June and came out of the visits raving about the Gators. South Carolina has also made a big impression on Lyons but heading into the fall the Gators are the team to beat.

Linebacker Shawn Murphy- The linebacker plans to commit on July 25th and right now Alabama looks to be the pick for Murphy, but LSU and Florida are also in the mix here. The Gators already have a commitment from Shemar James who’s one of the best linebackers in the country, but the staff would love to add Murphy to the class. Christian Robinson is continuing to work Murphy in hopes of being the pick next week.

Defensive back Gentry Williams- Williams is one of the best athletes in the country and the Gators have said he could play offense or defense in college depending on what he prefers but Williams is mostly being recruited as a corner by most schools. The Gators have their work cut out for them with Williams as Oklahoma is the leader here, but Williams has relationships with Garrick McGee and Nick Evers that helps the Gators here. Florida desperately needs to get Williams back on campus again in order to have a true shot.

Defensive back Kamari Wilson- Wilson is ranked as the top safety in the country by most and for a while it looked like the Gators were out of the mix but after hiring Wesley McGriff and Jules Montinar the Gators jumped back into the mix. Wilson took two visits to Gainesville in June, but he now plans to visit Georgia the same day of Friday Night Lights instead of visiting Gainesville. Wilson does plan to return to Gainesville again before making a decision. Right now it looks like UF/UGA are battling it out for Wilson.

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.