The 2022 college football recruiting season is effectively over with the passing of the national signing day period, which means it is time to look back and reflect on the success of our favorite schools. 247Sports’ Bud Elliot recently undertook the task of putting together his Blue-Chip Ratio assessment, in which he listed the 16 Blue-Chip Ratio qualifying teams from 2021 and compared the results with those from this past year.
Florida football made the cut, meaning that they inked more four- and five-star recruits than two- and three-star prospects over the previous four recruiting classes, and put up a 66% Blue-Chip Ratio in 2021. However, the Gators’ performance on the recruiting trail during the tumultuous transition from the Dan Mullen to Billy Napier era resulted in a bit of a slip, not unpredictably. Here is what Elliot has to say in his 2022 evaluation.
Florida: 41% (No. 19 recruiting class)
New coach Billy Napier did not go all-in on high school recruiting, preferring to save spots for the 2023 class while attacking the portal. But 7 of the 17 signees are rated as four-stars. Florida addressed the defensive side of the ball heavily with defensive backs Kamari Wilson and Devin Moore, linebacker Shemar James, and defensive linemen Chris McClellan and Jamari Lyons. Like USC, LSU, Miami, and others, look for Florida to have a big 2023 class from the high school ranks.
There is certainly no cause for alarm here, but the recruiting ratio, as well as the national rankings, suggest that there is a bit of an uphill climb for the Gators to get back to prominence among prep prospects. Napier and his new army of staffers are certainly aware of this and have already started wooing its 2023 targets. Fans of the Orange and Blue should have much to look forward to in the years ahead if all goes well.
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