The recruiting parade continues in Gainesville with the opening of college football’s early signing period on Wednesday morning, which has already seen the Florida Gators add some impressive names to its list of letter of intents.
Four-star offensive tackle [autotag]Fletcher Westphal[/autotag] out of Leesburg (Virginia) Tuscarora officially put the ink on the paper and joined the ranks of the Orange and Blue, giving Billy Napier’s program a much-needed boost on the O-line.
The 6-foot-8-inch, 335-pound trench warrior gave his verbal commitment back in July after being pursued by co-offensive line coaches Rob Sale and Darnell Stapleton.
“I really liked that they are truly the everything school,” Westphal told Swamp247. “They check off so many boxes for me. The players have so many thing available for them.”
He chose Florida’s offer over the likes of the Arkansas Razorbacks, Clemson Tigers, Georgia Bulldogs, Florida State Seminoles, Miami Hurricanes, Michigan Wolverines, Oregon Ducks and Washington Huskies.
“For a long time, Arkansas was the leader and I hadn’t taken too many visits to Florida, but as I got down there more, I started feeling differently about them,” Westphal told On3’s Chad Simmons. “I took my official visit to Florida, and I really enjoyed being around the players, I enjoyed being around the coaches and I loved the strength and conditioning staff. Everyone there was great to be around.”
Westphal is ranked No. 206 overall and No. 18 at his position nationally according to the 247Sports composite while the On3 industry ranking has him at Nos. 177 and 14, respectively.
Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.