Tag: Bryce Lovett

Where Florida’s 2023 recruiting class finished in final On3 rankings

Half of Florida’s 2023 recruiting class wound up in the On3 top 300 after the final update was released on Tuesday.

The Florida Gators already signed the bulk of its 2023 recruiting class, and the haul is looking even better than expected after On3 provided its last update to its independent rankings, the On300.

Ten of Florida’s signees cracked the top 300 and five players made it into the top 100.

Again, this is On3’s independent rankings, which is used to reach the more commonly cited On3 consensus or 247Sports composite rankings. Those are aggregate scores that use different formulas depending on the site and are used more often because they help eliminate any one service’s individual bias.

Several of Florida’s signees participated in All-Star games and boosted their stock with good performances against some of the top players in the class. The two most notable were cornerback [autotag]Ja’Keem Jackson[/autotag] and defensive lineman [autotag]Kelby Collins[/autotag], who each moved up over 50 spots to break into the top 50.

Here’s a look at where each Florida signee from the class of 2023 finished in the On300 rankings.

Gators land commitment from priority OL target during All-American Bowl

The Gators earned another commitment from the recruiting class of 2023. Offensive tackle Caden Jones is headed to Florida.

The Florida Gators earned a commitment from De La Salle (Louisiana) offensive tackle [autotag]Caden Jones[/autotag] on Saturday during the All-American Bowl broadcast.

Jones had reportedly locked in his decision ahead of time, but he made things official to the public during a planned announcement stating that he could “see the vision Coach Napier has for the future.” He is the fourth offensive line commit/signee in the 2023 class, joining [autotag]Roderick Kearney[/autotag], [autotag]Knijeah Harris[/autotag] and [autotag]Bryce Lovett[/autotag]. Greyshirt freshman Tony Livingston is joining the team as an offensive tackle too, so he should be Jones’ primary competition.

Of course, Florida is in dire need of offensive line depth. The team is returning just one starter, center [autotag]Kingsley Eguakun[/autotag], and [autotag]Austin Barber[/autotag] has some starting experience at either tackle spot. Aside from any transfer portal additions, Florida will rely on first-time starters at the other three spots. [autotag]Richie Leonard[/autotag] is a candidate to earn time at either guard spot, and [autotag]Kamryn Waites[/autotag] played in the bowl game.

Jones won’t be the starting left tackle when September comes around, but he could be in a solid reserve spot after developing a bit over the summer.

The 247Sports composite gives him a three-star grade and ranks Jones No. 293 overall in the class of 2023 and No. 36 among offensive linemen. On3 is a bit more bullish on him, giving Jones the four-star nod and ranking him at No. 27 among those at his position.

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Another Florida offensive lineman will enter the transfer portal

Florida is now losing four of its five starting linemen to the NFL draft or transfer portal.

On Saturday, Florida left guard [autotag]Ethan White[/autotag] announced his intention to enter the transfer portal, meaning the Gators will return just one starter to the offensive line next season.

White’s announcement comes just a day after right tackle [autotag]Michael Tarquin[/autotag] moved on from the program, and only center [autotag]Kingsley Eguakun[/autotag] will return in 2023. White started all 13 games this season for Florida and was a major part of the team’s elite offensive line. He was expected to start again next year after an All-SEC year in 2022.

“I want to thank Coach Mullen and Coach Hevesy for giving me the opportunity to represent my home state and The University of Florida for 4 years, as well as Coach Napier and his staff for continuing my development over the past year,” White wrote in a Twitter post. “I will be entering the transfer portal.”

White joined the team in 2019 as a three-star recruit and saw early action, playing in six games his freshman year. An injury ended his 2020 season early and once again battled health issues in 2021 but started seven of the eight games he appeared in. 2022 was his first full season and he shined.

Replacing White won’t be easy. The Gators have four offensive linemen joining the program this year: [autotag]Knijeah Harris[/autotag],  [autotag]Roderick Kearney[/autotag], [autotag]Bryce Lovett[/autotag] and [autotag]Tony Livingston[/autotag] (a class of 2022 commit who gray-shirted and signed in December).

Of course, none of those players have taken a college snap yet, so Billy Napier might need to dip into the transfer portal himself to restock the line.

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Florida’s 2023 recruiting class is loaded with early enrolees

With early signing day in the books, we now have a better idea of which members of Florida’s recruiting class of 2023 will early enroll.

Florida head coach [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] went over a lot in his post-early signing day press conference, but one of the major points discussed was just how many of the 20 signees will enroll early. According to Napier, the bulk of the class should arrive in the spring.

Of Florida’s 20 signees, Napier expects 18 to be in Gainesville for spring practices. Rather than listing each name that plans to early enroll, it’s easier to list those who won’t: wide receiver [autotag]Eugene Wilson III[/autotag] and defensive lineman [autotag]Gavin Hill[/autotag].

Adding 18 players to the roster a few months early could be huge for Billy Napier and Co. The Gators are replacing a ton of talent after many draft departures, dismissals and transfers. Getting the new Napier-recruited talent on campus early means more time to teach them the playbook, system, etc. More practice time means a better shot at finding early snaps, too.

“The other thing that’s going to help is you’re going to have 20 players that start in January,” said Napier during his early signing day presser, “and I think that translates to more reps and more teaching and more opportunity to get orientated to the university and just life in general in college. But I do think that there will be a number of this group (that compete for early playing time). They’re going to have to earn it.”

It can’t be overstated how important it was for Florida to bring in a group of recruits that were willing to enroll early, and Napier did an exceptional job making sure everything went according to plan.

In case you’re looking for a full list of early enrollees, here’s a list of the players that should be coming to Gainesville in the spring:

  • 5-star quarterback [autotag]Jaden Rashada[/autotag]
  • 4-star running back [autotag]Treyaun Webb[/autotag]
  • 4-star receiver [autotag]Aidan Mizell[/autotag]
  • 4-star receiver [autotag]Andy Jean[/autotag]
  • 4-star offensive lineman [autotag]Roderick Kearney[/autotag]
  • 3-star offensive lineman [autotag]Knijeah Harris[/autotag]
  • 3-star offensive tackle [autotag]Bryce Lovett[/autotag]
  • 4-star defensive lineman [autotag]Kelby Collins[/autotag]
  • 4-star defensive lineman [autotag]Kamran James[/autotag]
  • 4-star defensive lineman [autotag]TJ Searcy[/autotag]
  • 4-star defensive linemen [autotag]Will Norman[/autotag]
  • 4-star linebacker [autotag]Jaden Robinson[/autotag]
  • 4-star cornerback [autotag]Ja’Keem Jackson[/autotag]
  • 4-star cornerback [autotag]Sharif Denson[/autotag]
  • 4-star safety [autotag]Dijon Johnson[/autotag]
  • 4-star safety [autotag]Jordan Castell[/autotag]
  • 4-star safety [autotag]Bryce Thornton[/autotag]
  • 4-star athlete [autotag]Aaron Gates[/autotag]

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Tracking Florida’s 2023 early signing period activity

Florida is set to sign most of its 2023 recruiting class on the first day of the early signing period and Gators Wire is keeping track of it all.

The calendar might still read 2022, but the reality is that many of the top recruits in the class of 2023 are signing early and Dec. 21 marks the start of the early signing period. Florida is expected to bring in a strong class in Billy Napier’s first full cycle as head coach, but nothing is ever set in stone until the pen hits the paper.

The February signing date could bring in more names, but the core of the class is signing early and Gators Wire is keeping track of every move the team makes. There usually are some surprises, and Florida is in the hunt for several uncommitted targets set to make their decisions through Friday when the period comes to a close.

Each of Florida’s commitments below is listed in order of expected ceremony start time. As players sign their national letters of intent, the list will update to reflect Florida’s most recent additions.

Florida might be the favorite to land this 2023 offensive lineman

Billy Napier has his eyes on an offensive lineman from the state of Louisiana and the experts like the Gators’ chances.

With the early signing period approaching, Florida has been busy on the recruiting trail, and it appears that the Gators’ efforts are paying off with De La Salle (New Orleans, Louisiana) offensive tackle [autotag]Caden Jones[/autotag].

247Sports’ director of recruiting, Steve Wiltfong, submitted a crystal ball for Jones in favor of UF Wednesday morning with a confidence level of six out of 10. Jones is still considering Houston, Texas, Texas A&M and Florida State, but Wiltfong feels that Florida has done enough to be considered the favorite in this race.

Jones stands at an enormous 6-foot-8-inches and 305 pounds and fills a position of need for the Gators. Florida flipped four-star guard [autotag]Roderick Kearney[/autotag] from FSU in October and has both [autotag]Knijeah Harris[/autotag] and [autotag]Bryce Lovett[/autotag] under commitment, but there’s still a need for a couple more linemen. Five-star tackle [autotag]Samson Okunlola[/autotag] is the other name that keeps being connected with Florida, but Jones is a more reasonable target that could wind up being a developmental piece.

The expectation is for Jones to commit during the All-American Bowl on Jan. 7, so Florida has a bit of time to work on him.

The 247Sports composite ranks Jones at No. 425 overall and No. 33 among offensive tackles in the class of 2023.

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Florida commits in action during Week 2 of high school football

Take a look at how Florida’s top recruits fared this past week on the high school gridiron.

Week one of college football was plenty exciting, but there was still high school football action as well, and Florida’s commits put up some highlights.

Two players were on a bye, four-star receiver [autotag]Eugene Wilson III[/autotag] and four-star defensive lineman [autotag]Will Norman[/autotag]. The latter has had an interesting high school journey that took another turn over the weekend.

A good chunk of the class was in attendance for Florida’s upset win over the Utah Utes on Saturday as well. Seeing the Swamp over capacity and experiencing Billy Napier’s first game day as the head coach of the Gators sat well with them.

Here’s a look at what Florida’s recruiting class of 2023 did over the weekend.

This 4-star OT will make his first trip to the Swamp in September

The Gators will host four-star offensive tackle Caleb Lomu during the season opener for his first trip to the University of Florida.

Florida football is still looking to add to the class of 2023 and a blue-chip offensive lineman is still on the wishlist for [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] and Co.

Four-star Highland (Gilbert, Arizona) offensive tackle [autotag]Caleb Lomu[/autotag] is one of the recent additions to the Gators’ recruiting board, and he’s expected to make it to Gainesville in early September for the season opener against Utah, according to 247Sports. The unofficial visit is essentially an audition for one of the final two official visits Lomu has left. He took trips to Arizona, Utah and Cal in June, and Oregon has started pushing hard for one as well.

Lomu doesn’t have a decision timeline set just yet, so a successful visit to UF could help Florida jump up his list in a hurry. Of course, the opposite is always possible, and Florida could easily be out of the race as quickly as it got into things, but that seems unlikely if Lomu is willing to travel across the country to meet with the Gators at this point in his recruitment.

The Gators have just two offensive line commits in the class of 2023 right now: four-star interior offensive lineman [autotag]Knijeah Harris[/autotag] and three-star offensive tackle [autotag]Bryce Lovett[/autotag]. The 247Sports composite ranks Lomu No. 197 overall in the class and No. 21 among offensive tackles.

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Former Florida offensive lineman commit flips to Miami

Well, this one was predictable. Tommy Kinsler, the offensive lineman who backed off his commitment to Florida after visiting Miami, has announced his plans to attend UM.

When three-star offensive lineman [autotag]Tommy Kinsler[/autotag] backed off his commitment to the University of Florida in early July, many expected him to quickly flip to the University of Miami.

It took 26 days, but Kinsler finally made the announcement and joined the Hurricanes’ ever-improving 2023 recruiting class on Thursday.

The Kinsler flip is frankly a bad look for the program under [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag]. He was long considered a lock to end up at UF and committed after his official visit in June. It took just one trip to Coral Gables five days later for Kinsler to realize he made a mistake, and he’s not the first recruit this cycle to choose UM over UF, which is supposed to be an SEC powerhouse. The Gators recently lost five-star offensive tackle [autotag]Francis Mauigoa[/autotag], four-star linebacker [autotag]Malik Bryant[/autotag] and four-star quarterback [autotag]Jaden Rashada[/autotag] to the Hurricanes as well.

The early returns for Napier’s staff against Mario Cristobal’s are anything but good, but the Gators bounced back a bit with two signings over the last two days (four-star cornerback Ja’Keem Jackson and four-star wide receiver Aidan Mizell). Still, losing Kinsler leaves the Gators with very little incoming talent on the offensive line.

Four-star interior offensive lineman [autotag]Knijeah Harris[/autotag] and three-star tackle [autotag]Bryce Lovett[/autotag] are still there, but Napier was hoping to add more at the position group based on the players he targeted.

The 247Sports composite lists Kinsler No. 920 overall in the class of 2023 and No. 66 among interior offensive linemen. Despite those rankings, Napier’s group clearly saw an upside to Kinsler that others didn’t. Hopefully, that doesn’t come back to bite the Gators.

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Florida football misses out on big in-state 4-star offensive tackle

Florida hosted four-star offensive tackle Payton Kirkland on several visits, but he ended up committing to a school he never even got a chance to tour.

Gator Nation had its eyes on three members of the class of 2023 on Saturday but none of them ended up committing to the orange and blue when all was said and done. Four-star safety [autotag]Joenel Aguero[/autotag] picked Georgia over Florida in the morning and four-star linebacker [autotag]Malik Bryant[/autotag] pushed back his commitment, leaving four-star offensive tackle [autotag]Payton Kirkland[/autotag] to decide between his top five of Florida, Alabama, Miami, Michigan State and Oklahoma.

Kirkland shocked everyone and chose Texas, a program that not only failed to make his top five in March but also failed to get him on campus during the recruiting process. Florida hosted Kirkland for an official visit and plenty of unofficials, but that didn’t matter much once Steve Sarkisian’s staff swooped in at the last minute.

Andrew Ivins of 247Sports spoke with Kirkland as he made the announcement on the site’s YouTube page. He said that the decision wasn’t an easy one to reach but it was ultimately what he felt was best for him. [autotag]Arch Manning[/autotag], the nation’s consensus top recruit, committing earlier in the month couldn’t have hurt the Longhorns’ chances with Kirkland, either.

Florida was considered a major player in Kirkland’s recruitment given the frequency in which he turned up on campus. He would have been the Gators’ highest-rated offensive line commit and things went their way. UF still has four-star interior offensive lineman [autotag]Knijeah Harris[/autotag] and three-star offensive tackle [autotag]Bryce Lovett[/autotag] to fall back on.

Kirkland is ranked No. 274 overall on the 247Sports composite and is No. 25 among offensive tackles in the class of 2023. If Billy Napier plans on adding another tackle to the class, he’s running out of blue-chip options. Samson Okunlola, Monroe Freeling and Tyree Adams are the only recruits ranked higher than Kirkland that Florida has both offered and had reported contact with.

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