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Florida coach Jim McElwain gave Gators fans a taste of his recruiting ability last season in the finals days leading up to signing day. With a full year under his belt, McElWain has the Gators in a spot to finish with a top five class and a shot at No. 1 overall.
Here’s a review of Florida’s signing class heading into the first recruiting weekend after the bowl season and a few predictions on where the Gators could end up in February. We use 247Sports composite team and player rankings:
CURRENT STANDING
National recruiting rank: 6
SEC recruiting rank: 3
Number of commits or signees: 26
EARLY ENROLLEES
Feleipe Franks, QB, Crawfordville, Fla. (four stars)
Chauncey Gardner, CB, Cocoa, Fla. (four stars)
Freddie Swain, WR, Citra, Fla. (four stars)
Mark Thompson, RB, Dodge City C.C. (four stars, JUCO)
Joshua Hammond, WR, Hallandale, Fla. (four stars)
Jordan Smith, DE, Lithonia, Ga. (four stars)
Dre Massey, WR, Holmes C.C. (three stars, JUCO)
David Reese, LB, Farmington, Mich. (three stars)
Stone Forsythe, OT, Winter Garden, Fla. (three stars)
Eddy Pineiro, K, ASA College Miami (three stars, PREP)
Kyle Trask, QB, Manvel, Texas (three stars)
NOTABLE COMMITS
Shavar Manuel, DT, Tampa, Fla. (four stars)
Antonneous Clayton, DE, Vienna, Ga. (four stars)
Jeremiah Moon, LB, Birmingham, Ala. (four stars)
REMAINING PRIMARY TARGETS
Lyndell Wilson, LB, Montgomery, Ala. (five stars)
Kristian Fulton, CB, Metairie, La. (four stars)
Sam Bruce, WR, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (four stars)
Brian Burns, DE, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (four stars)
SIGNING DAY PREDICTIONS
The Gators’ class is nearly full, but all four of their top targets along with four-star wide receiver Nate Craig-Myers would all be takes if they wanted to commit so something will have to give. Florida has a legitimate shot at a No. 1 class but it will have to move some guys out to sign others. Still a lot to be determined with this class.
Corey Long is a freelance writer for SaturdayDownSouth.com. Follow Corey on Twitter @CoreyLong.
