We're beginning our review of Florida football's Class of 2012 recruiting class today, and we'll be going through the recruits that committed to Florida on a position-by-position basis for the next two weeks. From there, we'll have some other, longer pieces on how Will Muschamp recruits and what to expect going forward.
Florida didn't really need a quarterback in the 2012 recruiting cycle. With Jeff Driskel and Jacoby Brissett on campus and seemingly fully committed to remaining Gators, there's a lot of talent at the position waiting for refinement, and there's an athletic backup in Tyler Murphy left behind them even if Trey Burton moves to running back. But Driskel and Brissett both profile as starting quarterbacks, and it would be surprising if, should one win the job outright, the other one doesn't at least explore the option of transferring.
That would leave Florida with less depth than the Gators would want, and without one of the most important luxuries a college football team can have: A good second-string quarterback. Enter Pennsylvania quarterback Skyler Mornhinweg.
Florida's massive recruiting day on Saturday, which coincided with several dozen visitors coming to campus for Junior Day, produced six commitments. The fifth commitment of the day and ninth for the Class of 2013 came from linebacker Dillan Lawson, as first reported by to Gator Country's Andrew Spivey, with some additional confirmation from Only Gators' Adam Silverstein.
Lawson, from Crestview in the Florida Panhandle, is less immediately impressive than many of the prospects who have committed to Florida so far in this recruiting cycle, with no stars from Rivals as of yet, but he could be a game-changer for Florida at the Buck position. SB Nation recruiting editor Bud Elliott shot me a tweet after watching Lawson's junior tape, and he's impressed.
Found Lawson's JR film. Like it. Good quickness, violent, chases stuff down. More buck than true backer. Four-star type.
If Will Muschamp's plan is to stockpile linebackers who have speed and size — Lawson's 6'4", according to Rivals, and joins Daniel McMillian and James Hearns in the Class of 2013 — I like it.
Florida's recruiting bounty on this Junior Day Saturday is growing, and rapidly approaching the realm of an embarrassment of riches. The fourth class of 2013 prospect to commit to the Gators on Saturday was safety Nick Washington, as first reported by ESPN's Derek Tyson.
Of the two, Washington, from Trinity Christian in Jacksonville, is the bigger pick-up: He's going to be a four- or five-star prospect (ESPN has him on the ESPNU 150 Watch List, Rivals with four stars) and is versatile enough to play both safety and corner if necessary. He's also the half-brother of Devin Washington, a potentially excellent 2013 prospect in his own right.
Washington could add to what might be a beyond formidable secondary in the fall of 2013. Consider this: Florida will have Marcus Roberson, Marcus Maye, De'Ante Saunders, and Brian Poole then, and could very well have Matt Elam, 2013 stud Marcell Harris, Washington, and a couple more players in Will Muschamp's defensive backfield. Tracy Howard who?
Florida's fantastic start to the 2013 recruiting cycle continues on this Saturday: During Florida's Junior Day, Daytona Beach Mainland linebacker Quinton Powell committed to Florida, according to ESPN's Michael DiRocco.
Powell is a bit undersized for a linebacker, at 6'1" and 190 pounds, but Rivals rates him as a four-star player, and lists his offers from a slew of schools, including Florida State, Miami, Arkansas, Clemson, and Vanderbilt.
Moreover, Powell gives the Gators an inordinate amount of recruiting momentum very early in the 2013 cycle. Powell is the seventh verbal commitment to join Florida's Class of 2013, and is both the third linebacker, joining Daniel McMillian and James Hearns, and the third commitment on this Saturday, joining Kelvin Taylor and Rodney Adams.
Will Muschamp came of age as a recruiter under Mack Brown in a Texas system that was big on getting early commitments and securing classes long before Signing Day came around. He seems to be doing the exact same thing at Florida.
Kelvin Taylor, he of the smartphone app and the effervescent presence on Twitter and the towering high school career, spent much of the last year seemingly vacillating between Florida, the alma mater of his father, Gators legend Fred Taylor, and Alabama, which has produced a few good running backs in recent years. On Saturday, at the beginning of Florida's Junior Day, Taylor committed to the Gators with a flurry of tweets and a few pictures, leaving little doubt that he was probably Gainesville-bound all along and giving Will Muschamp five commitments for his Class of 2013 less than three weeks since National Signing Day for the Class of 2012.
Better yet, Muschamp's hitting triples at least. Taylor should be rated a four- or five-star prospect by most recruiting services, and has had one of the most impressive high school careers a football player has ever had. He's been playing varsity football since seventh grade for Glades Day High School, has broken Emmitt Smith's Florida rushing record, and is likely to own a few more records before the end of his senior season.
He also joins Adam Lane to give Florida two big-time running backs in a 2013 class that is so chock-full of great backs from the state of Florida that it is not inconceivable, despite Taylor telling ESPN that he thinks the Gators are done at the position, that there's another commitment or two coming down the line.
And Taylor wasn't the only commitment for the Gators on Saturday.
Florida's Class of 2012 recruiting cycle is finally (probably) over, but the ending the Gators got is about as unsatisfying as the one that a National Signing Day full of misses brought: Five-star Maryland wideout Stefon Diggs has committed to play at Maryland, opting for the home state Terrapins over Florida, Ohio State, and Auburn.
Diggs was Florida's last hope to add an instant impact on the perimeter this year, and was seen as a vital target for a team with a receiving corps that struggled mightily in 2012. But despite being seen as a Florida lean for a long time, then as a Florida lean as recently as Thursday, Diggs picked Maryland, probably thanks both to proximity and some late work by Maryland offensive coordinator Mike Locksley, a former Ron Zook assistant and tireless recruiter.
This stings, of course, and leaves Florida with a class of recruits that is very heavily weighted toward Will Muschamp's defense, but Diggs' choice to drag out his decision until more than a week after Signing Day and announce his commitment at a three-hour ceremony in a bar in Maryland has probably left most Gators fans with a reminder that recruiting is often a window into the more ridiculous side effects of the attention given to athletes.
On the bright side: Andre Debose remains a Florida Gator.
Will Muschamp repurposed what I think is a hoary metaphor about shaving ("______ is kind of like shaving: If you don't do it every day, you're gonna look ______") to refer to Florida's recruiting efforts last May. Given the work he's doing to shore up Florida's Class of 2013 one day after National Signing Day 2012, I'd say he lives by it, too: Tallahassee Lincoln prospect James Hearns has committed to Florida, as first reported by Gator Country's Andrew Spivey bringing the Gators' Class of 2013 to four names.
Hearns stands 6'3" and weighs 237 pounds, and is considered one of the finest linebacker prospects in Florida for 2013 — Daniel McMillian is be one of the few players who is rated better — and should be a four-star prospect when those lazy recruiting services move on from the ancient history that was the 2012 recruiting cycle and put together their 2013 rankings. Hearns could also help open up a valuable pipeline to Lincoln, a traditional Florida high school power in Florida State's backyard that is home to a couple more excellent 2013 players. (Gators great Jacquez Green being Lincoln's offensive coordinator probably helps, too.)
Hearns joins McMillian, Adam Lane, and Caleb Brantley in Florida's Class of 2013. Tell me, Gators fans: Does this soothe the sting of a disappointing National Signing Day?
Florida's National Signing Day didn't go quite as well as some hoped, but the Gators put together one of the top classes in the nation by any measure. And now, one day after Signing Day, Florida has secured a commitment from Daniel McMillian, as first tweeted by Rivals site Inside the Gators' Bryan Holt, running their count for Class of 2013 commitments to three.
McMillian, a junior at Jacksonville First Coast, is 6'3" and 220 pounds, and though few recruiting services have awarded all of their stars and begun their rankings for the Class of 2013, he's likely to be either a four-star or five-star prospect when all is said and done, and SB Nation's Bud Elliott calls him one of the top linebackers in the Class of 2013.
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