Florida Football Host Official Recruiting Visits this Weekend

The time has come ladies and gentlemen. Florida will host their first round of official visits this weekend and the list includes some prominent high school players. The Gators 2019 recruiting class has been considered one of their best in recent years.

Florida made a big splash a couple weeks back when they landed a trio of four-star Lakeland players. The last time Florida signed three Lakeland players was the year prior to winning their 2008 national championship.

These official visits will include six key targets and one of them being a verbal commit. The commit hasn’t officially signed, further making this weekend a crucial one for Dan Mullen and company.

Potential Defensive Commits

The Gators are in need of some strong defensive linemen and cornerbacks for the upcoming season. Departures from Cece Jefferson, Jachai Polite, and Dre Massey were critical to this defensive front.

• 3-star defensive linemen Smith Vilbert from New Jersey.
• Penn State has been leading his interests yet he will take a tour of campus with his mother and aunt this weekend. Vilbert’s relationship with the Gators staff is on a great note. However, Florida will have to push hard on convincing this young man into coming to Florida.

Top 4…
@GeauxEdits pic.twitter.com/PsYrbfH1sP

— Smithvilbert (@Smithvilbert2) December 17, 2018

• 4-star defensive end Charles Moore out of Louisville, MS.
• This will be one of the key players that Florida needs to emphasize their visit on. However, Auburn is the team to beat due to his official visit back in December. 247sports contributor Blake Alderman said that Florida has a good chance of landing him due to their need on the defensive line. Moore will visit Florida State following his trip to Gainesville. Mullen targeted Moore into signing with Mississippi State but he de-committed following Mullen’s departure.
• 4-star cornerback Kaiir Elam from North Palm Beach, FL.
• Nelam is the nephew of former Gator Matt Elam. The No. 7 cornerback in the nation is one of Mullen’s top targets since he arrived in Gainesville. So far, Nelam has both Florida and Georgia in mind as he’s expected to be in Athens, GA next week for an OV. However, he’s bringing most of his family along to Florida’s campus which can always be a good factor.

Just Another Step Closer To My Goals… @hudl https://t.co/itDxjycicR #hudl

— Kaiir Elam (@kaiirelam5) November 18, 2018

Potential Offensive Commits

The other three commits include two top targets and one verbal commit who has yet to sign and be a part of the Gators 2019 roster.

• 4-star wide receiver Arjei Henderson out of Texas.
• He’ll make his first official visit to Gainesville. Funny enough, he was a former Oregon and Oklahoma commit but opened up his options later on in the year. He heard some nice things from other Gator signees at Under Armour game and committed to Florida before even visiting campus. He’ll be attending the official visit alongside his father. Florida already has 10 receivers on their current roster.

2019 WR Arjei Henderson commits to #Gators.

The best surprises are real ones. https://t.co/SlumzGnb6B pic.twitter.com/wFrWmmrMdr

— Alligator Army (@AlligatorArmy) January 4, 2019

• 3-star offensive linemen Ira Henry out of St. Louis, MO.
• John Hevesy has his eyes on him due to many senior offensive linemen graduating last semester. It will be his first ever visit to campus. However, Henry has a  stacked couple of weeks ahead of him with other visits to Florida State and Oklahoma. He also visited Iowa State back in the summer.

https://twitter.com/IraHenry8/status/1024751292944662531

• 4-star athlete Mark-Antony Richards from West Palm Beach, FL.
• He’s been compared to being a Percy Harvin type of player. Richards is a gimmicky run-back type of player who can pair well with Kadarius Toney if he signs. Alderman believes that he has the play-style of a safety as well but Richards is more keen on offense. Richards has a strong interest in Florida, Penn State, Auburn, and Miami. Miami is involved in the chase due to his older brother Ahmonn Richards playing there as wide receiver back in 2016, before his tragic career-ending injury.

https://twitter.com/Mark21Richards/status/1071929738573299713