Gators offer elite offensive tackle from Virginia Beach

The Gators are starting to look at the class of 2025, and four-star offensive tackle Jaylen Gilchrist is the latest to receive a scholarship offer.

It’s offer season in the Swamp, and the most recent name to be added to Florida’s recruiting board is Salem (Virginia Beach, Virginia) offensive tackle [autotag]Jaylen Gilchrist[/autotag].

Florida extended Gilchrist an offer on Thursday, according to a social media post sent out during the afternoon. The class of 2025 might not be in the middle of its recruiting cycle, but Gilchrist has already picked up over two dozen offers, including Florida’s.

While he hasn’t narrowed things down to a top 10 or anything, Gilchrist says he knows what he’s looking for.

“My plan is that I kind of want to be an early enrollee,” Gilchrist said. “So if that’s the case, I need to get ahead and do what I’ve got to do to figure out where I want to go. For me, the most important thing is education. Football’s not always promised so therefore if it doesn’t work out for me, I’ve got a scholarship to a good school.”

Florida will compete with Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Penn State and South Carolina among others for Gilchrist’s services. The Tarheels are currently on top of the On3 recruiting prediction machine with 26.0% odds to land him.

Gilchrist is a consensus four-star recruit, ranked highest by 247Sports at No. 64 overall and No. 1 among offensive tackles in the class of 2025. The On3 industry ranking, which uses a weighted average from all four major services, places him at No. 80 nationally and No. 10 at his position.

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