The National Signing Day Thread

[alcoholica]

I believe Copeland was the kid gushing over how Mac fought for Robinson. If that's true, then I think all you need is some offensive improvement this year. Thinking a coach is going to fight for you and have your back is pretty strong in recruitment.

 

[BMF]

Amari Burney set to commit this week (100% crystal ball to UF):

http://florida.247sports.com/Articl...7-62-4E-F8-32-7D-B3170531_093602FloridaGators

Clearwater (Fla.) Calvary Christian Top247 safety Amari Burney is set to announce his commit on Thursday at 10 a.m. ET. The teams in the mix for the 6-foot-1, 215-pound prospect are Florida, Ohio State, and Virginia Tech.

The in-state Gators are considered heavy favorites to land Burney's pledge. Proximity to home, childhood fandom, and an early push from Florida's staff are all reasons to believe Burney picks the Gators.

Fellow 247Sports recruiting experts give their predictions on what school Burney picks as well.

Blake Alderman, Florida recruiting insider: "The Gators have been the smart pick here for some time. With their closeness to home and the need at his position this was a can't miss for Jim McElwain and the rest of the staff."

Bill Kurelic, Ohio State recruiting insider: "The Buckeyes have made a strong run at Burney with Greg Schiano doing an excellent job. But in the end, proximity combined with the familiarity with the Florida coaches and opportunity to play on both sides of the ball for the Gators wins out. "

Evan Watkins, Virginia Tech recruiting insider: "Florida has been on him the longest and he seems to be the type of player that stays home. While Virginia Tech does have a tie to him with his cousin, Brandon Facyson, Florida has always been the concern for the Hokies staff."

 

[BMF]

Glad to see we're in on a JUCO D-lineman (but so did 11 other schools):


Gators make the cut for JuCo pass rusher
Junior College defensive end Dorian Gerald narrows his list of schools.

http://florida.247sports.com/Article/Gators-make-the-cut-for-JuCo-pass-rusher-52964787

College of the Canyons defensive end Dorian Gerald released a top 12 on Wednesday. Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Louisville, LSU, N.C. State, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Syracuse, Tennessee, and Texas A&M all made the cut for the 6-foot-3, 255-pound pass rusher.

The Gamecocks are the current leader on the 247Sports Crystal Ball for the Florence, S.C. native.

247Sports has yet to rank Gerald at this time.

 

[BMF]

Two 2019 4-star Recruits to visit UF on Friday:

http://florida.247sports.com/Article/Four-star-recruits-to-visit-UF-on-Friday-52964499

Saint Simons Island (Ga.) Frederica Academy will take part in Florida's 7on7 camp on Friday. The team features two of the nation's top 2019 recruits with wide receiver Jashawn Sheffield and athlete Jaylin Simpson.

Florida State is considered the early leader for the 6-foot-2, 175-pound Sheffield currently, but has offers from Alabama, Clemson, Florida, Georgia, and others. The 5-foot-11, 165-pound Simpson also has a host of offers from across the country as well.

247Sports currently ranks Sheffield as the nation's No. 25 overall prospect in the 2019 class, while Simpson checks in at No. 228.

 

[BMF]

Justin Fields now the #2 Recruit in the Country:

http://florida.247sports.com/Article/Top-target-Justin-Fields-now-No-2-in-the-nation-52961513

Kennesaw (Ga.) Harrison five-star quarterback Justin Fields is Florida's top priority in the 2018 class currently. There is plenty of buzz saying the signal caller will eventually back off his commitment to Penn State. Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, as well as Penn State are the schools pursing Fields the most currently.

Why is Fields so coveted?

At 6-foot-3, 221-pounds, he ran a 4.51 second forty, and he has a strong, accurate arm. All of those attributes helped move Fields up to the nation's No. 2 overall prospect by 247Sports. Fields now sits behind fellow Peach State quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, who has been ranked No. 1 since the very first ranking.

The two will travel to Los Angeles this weekend to compete side-by-side at the Elite 11 Finals in a battle for the No. 1 spot.

 

[GatorJ]

First off, thank you for a wonderfully informative thread BMF. Two things that I isolate as takeaways from this thread: Bringing in the new coaches really breathed new life into our program from a recruiting angle.2019 already looks like it's going to end up being a top three class nationally. And next year's class, 2018, is well on its way to a top 5 to top 7 class.

They have been all over linemen. Which makes me smile. This is something that has been missing from our program for a while.

IMO, if these guys can somehow figure out how to close on Justin Fields, we could be looking at one of the top classes for 2018 as well. And well on our way back into relevance.

 

[GatorJ]

It looks like there is a lot of elite QB talent this year. Justin is the fifth ranked rivals QB. And he's ranked number eight overall. A lot of quality, elite depth at this position for 2018. We cannot miss on pulling in a top QB this year.

 

[BMF]

First off, thank you for a wonderfully informative thread BMF. Two things that I isolate as takeaways from this thread: Bringing in the new coaches really breathed new life into our program from a recruiting angle.2019 already looks like it's going to end up being a top three class nationally. And next year's class, 2018, is well on its way to a top 5 to top 7 class.

They have been all over linemen. Which makes me smile. This is something that has been missing from our program for a while.

IMO, if these guys can somehow figure out how to close on Justin Fields, we could be looking at one of the top classes for 2018 as well. And well on our way back into relevance.

J, I agree it seems we're making a much stronger push in recruiting this year....however, I'm worried that we only have 6 commits right now (and no big boys - i.e. lineman). Hopefully we get Burney tomorrow....and that leads to a few more in the coming weeks. I'd love to see us w/ 9+ going into the fall. Looking at 247's list: Top 247....we have ZERO commits on that list (right now). Miami has about 12 on that list. We're ranked 35th on their team rankings as well (behind Kentucky and a number or also-rans):

Team rankings:

http://247sports.com/Season/2018-Football/CompositeTeamRankings

Top 247:

http://247sports.com/Season/2018-Football/CompositeRecruitRankings?InstitutionGroup=HighSchool


UF commits (Goss is listed as an OL, but we are recruiting him as a TE):

http://florida.247sports.com/Season/2018-Football/Commits

 

[GatorJ]

J, I agree it seems we're making a much stronger push in recruiting this year....however, I'm worried that we only have 6 commits right now (and no big boys - i.e. lineman). Hopefully we get Burney tomorrow....and that leads to a few more in the coming weeks. I'd love to see us w/ 9+ going into the fall. Looking at 247's list: Top 247....we have ZERO commits on that list (right now). Miami has about 12 on that list. We're ranked 35th on their team rankings as well (behind Kentucky and a number or also-rans):

Team rankings:

http://247sports.com/Season/2018-Football/CompositeTeamRankings

Top 247:

http://247sports.com/Season/2018-Football/CompositeRecruitRankings?InstitutionGroup=HighSchool


UF commits (Goss is listed as an OL, but we are recruiting him as a TE):

http://florida.247sports.com/Season/2018-Football/Commits

It looks like we're closing on those 2019 kids, but not those 2018 kids. Yet. It's just nice to hear that we're on these talented kids now. And not just starting three weeks before signing day.

 

[T REX]

2018 is top 5? Where? The only way that happens is if Mac pulls in Fields and some other top 100 talent.

And 2019 is so far off. Numbers don't equal quality.

 

[GatorJ]

2018 is top 5? Where? The only way that happens is if Mac pulls in Fields and some other top 100 talent.

And 2019 is so far off. Numbers don't equal quality.

I had a pretty long response to this geared up. But then I decided to just ignore you.

 

[URGatorBait]

I had a pretty long response to this geared up. But then I decided to just ignore you.

 

[T REX]

I had a pretty long response to this geared up. But then I decided to just ignore you.

Sounds good. Did you have a long response for BMF because he told you the same damn thing? LOL.

 

[GatorBart]

I thought I saw an article that it was Us and Auburn, and that may have been directly from him.
Has that changed?

Latest Crystal Ball has Copeland to the Gators at 77%.
8% each for Barn, Bammer and FSUx.
But there's about 5 guys chiming in to come up with those % numbers - one guy had it 50/50 (UF/Barn), so maybe you read his article.
I fixed the % and the link:
http://247sports.com/PlayerInstitution/Jacob-Copeland-at-Escambia-191432/CurrentExpertPredictions

 

[GatorJ]

Latest Crystal Ball has Copeland to the Gators at 77%.
8% each for Barn, Bammer and FSUx.
But there's about 5 guys chiming in to come up with those % numbers - one guy had it 50/50 (UF/Barn), so maybe you read his article.
I fixed the % and the link:
http://247sports.com/PlayerInstitution/Jacob-Copeland-at-Escambia-191432/CurrentExpertPredictions

I feel pretty good about Copeland. I'm not so sure about Burney. He was pretty strong to OSU in the beginning. He's in our backyard and a must get IMO. Safety is probably the weakest spot on our team right now.

 

[GatorBart]

I feel pretty good about Copeland. I'm not so sure about Burney. He was pretty strong to OSU in the beginning. He's in our backyard and a must get IMO. Safety is probably the weakest spot on our team right now.

Even the recruiting insiders for OSU and VaTech believe Burney's going to be a Gator. He's in our backyard, he's a Gator fan, and it's a position of need, in a bad way. All you gotta do is be 'hopeful' for another 15 hours or so, then we'll know for sure who he chooses. The Gators!!

 

[BMF]

I feel pretty good about Copeland. I'm not so sure about Burney. He was pretty strong to OSU in the beginning. He's in our backyard and a must get IMO. Safety is probably the weakest spot on our team right now.

I have a hard time seeing Burney as a college Safety. He's 6'1 215 and has an entire year before he graduates college. This is like Kaylon Johnson, now a starting LB. Otherwise he'll be the next Louis Oliver back there, at 225-230+....which I'm fine with, if he can run and cover. Regardless, let's hope we sign this kid.

 

[GatorJ]

I have a hard time seeing Burney as a college Safety. He's 6'1 215 and has an entire year before he graduates college. This is like Kaylon Johnson, now a starting LB. Otherwise he'll be the next Louis Oliver back there, at 225-230+....which I'm fine with, if he can run and cover. Regardless, let's hope we sign this kid.

Doesn't he play receiver as well?

 

[GatorBart]

Doesn't he play receiver as well?

Yes, he's a two-way player and Nuss apparently has told him he would like to see him on offense as well, so maybe he'll be fine at Safety or a really fast LB, ala Jelani Jenkins.

 

[BMF]

Doesn't he play receiver as well?

Yes, but he's a 4-star S....not a 4-star WR. He's being recruited to play Defense (regardless of what Nuss said to him). Also, most HS kids play both ways if their good athletes. So I'm not expecting a 6'1 220-230lb WR. Again, I'd love to see a Safety his size on our roster. But logic says he puts on 10-20 pounds in the next 2+ years and ends up at LB. What time is his announcement again??