DBs, DEs highlight five-star prospects at Florida past 5 years

Florida’s successful recruiting of five-star prospects dipped considerably from the six years when Urban Meyer led the program, but the quality of the prospects was strong with each five-star recruit in the past five years making major contributions and some heading toward high draft status.

2011

Jeff Driskel, QB: Driskel was rated the top QB in the nation in the 2011 class. He played sparingly in 2011 behind starter Jeff Brantley and backup Jacoby Brissett before winning the starting job in 2012 for a Gators team that went to the Sugar Bowl.

Entrenched as the starter in 2013, Driskel was injured against Tennessee and missed the remainder of the season. In 2014 he had some good moments early in the season but struggles against Alabama and Tennessee gave way to backup Treon Harris and Driskel transferred to Louisiana Tech after the 2014 season. He was an All Conference USA performer for Louisiana Tech in 2015 and threw for over 4,000 yards and 27 touchdowns. Driskel played in 29 games (starting 20) at Florida and threw for 3,411 yards with 23 touchdowns and 20 interceptions.

2012

D.J. Humphries, OT: Humphries played in 29 games (starting 20) for Florida over three season. He was a Freshman All-American (Sporting News) in 2012. He had his 2013 cut short after seven games with injury and returned in 2014 and started ten games while missing a couple more with injuries. Humphries declared for the draft after the 2014 and was a first round pick by the Arizona Cardinals.

Jonathan Bullard, DE: The other five-star prospect the Gators snagged out of North Carolina played in 50 games with 36 starts in his four-year career. Bullard was an All-SEC Freshman team performer in 2012 and developed into one of the league’s best over the next three seasons. Bullard with an All-SEC first team performer in 2015 and was one of the best in the nation with 17.5 tackles for loss. Bullard has

(Note: Dante Fowler Jr., was one of the highest four stars in the 2012 class and clearly played like a five-star prospect.)

2013

Vernon Hargreaves III, DB: Few have come through Gainesville with more fan anticipation than Hargreaves. As a freshman “VH3” was as good as advertised, appearing on multiple Freshman All-American lists and being named National Defensive Freshman of the Year by College Football News.

In 2014 Hargreaves continued to rack up the All-SEC and All-American accolades and was also named a semifinalist for the Bednarik Award. He had 13 pass breakups to lead the conference. In 2015 Hargreaves was a unanimous first team All-American and a finalists for the Jim Thorpe Award. In his career Hargreaves has 28 career pass breakups and 10 career interceptions during his three years at Florida. He is expected to enter the 2016 NFL Draft.

Kelvin Taylor, RB: Son for former Gator great Fred Taylor rushed for over 12,000 yards in high school proved to be a good, if not great, player himself. Taylor was named to the Freshman All-SEC team in 2013 after rushing for 508 yards and four touchdowns. In 2014 he rushed for 565 yards and six touchdowns as a backup to Matt Jones. Taylor became the Gators full-time starter in 2015 and broke the 1,000-yard barrier (1,035) and scored 13 touchdowns. Taylor announced he’ll enter the 2016 NFL Draft.

2014

Jalen Tabor, DB: Tabor announced a commitment to Arizona at the 2014 Under Armour All-America Game but enrolled at Florida a few days later. He was a Freshman All-America and SEC All-Freshman performer in 2014 with 31 tackles, eight pass breakups and an interception.

In 2015 Tabor was a first-team All-SEC performer and led the team with 14 pass breakups and four interceptions. Tabor is likely to be all many preseason All-American lists in 2016 based on his play over the first two years.

2015

Martez Ivey, OL: Ivey missed the first couple of games with a knee injury but made his first start at left guard for the Gators against LSU and started eight games total. With the line a fluid situation in 2015, Ivey moved around quite a bit, but he’ll likely find a full time home at left tackle in 2016, with David Sharpe moving to right tackle. Ivey was named to the SEC All-Freshman team.

CeCe Jefferson, DE: It took a while for Jefferson to put pen to paper for Florida, but he proved to be worth the wait once he did. Jefferson played in all 14 games and made three starts. He finished the season with 29 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. Jefferson was named to the SEC All-Freshman team — the first Gators defensive lineman to do that since Bullard and Fowler in 2012.

Corey Long

Corey Long is a freelance writer for SaturdayDownSouth.com. Follow Corey on Twitter @CoreyLong.