I know the 2015 UF class has been discussed, but I've been following it pretty closely and wanted to provide an update for those interested. The gist is, it is in incredibly bad shape. Combined with the low total numbers right now (around 55-58 returning scholarship players) and major holes all over the roster, particularly on offense, they are entering a world of pain unless things changes dramatically on NSD vs. what they look like now.
After Randy Shannon (UF version) beat out Randy Shannon (Arkansas version) for LB Rayshad Jackson (who had no other offers) over the weekend, UF is now up to 9 commitments. Of note, arguably their best current commitment, ATH Derrick Dillon, is a LA native who is now deciding between LSU and UF after visiting LSU last weekend. From reading the tea leaves that's about 50/50 right now.
Because of their low numbers they could add upwards of 27 players in this class. Many analysts are calling for them to take well less than that rather than reach for non-SEC type players. Problem is that's a double-edged sword: 1) If they take a very small class they are both setting themselves up for a 2015 roster that is incredibly low on depth and b) betting that their so-far-underwhelming staff can have a Butch-type class in 2016, and 2) in order to avoid the depth issue, they HAVE to take a lot of players between now and NSD just to get to what one would consider an acceptably small class.
Here's where it gets worse: Their realistic prospects in terms of high level players are dwindling quickly, and the guys they are getting (e.g., Jackson from above) are the kind of reaches that they would like to avoid. Looks like today they are about to land 2-star OL/DL Steven Clark (former Cuse commit) and 3-star DL Jabari Zuniga, a NCSU commit also interested in Arkansas. So, yeah, they are following track #2 above to date.
Guys they have struck out on or are trending the wrong way on (only including prospects who they truly reached out to, asterisk indicates took an OV to UF):
ATH Javarius Davis - ruled out UF
ATH Ray Ray McCloud - sticking with Clemson
ATH D. McGriff* - AU commit who took an OV to UF this past weekend and doesn't appear to have flipped
QB Lamar Jackson - is scheduled to OV there this weekend but industry guys think is 99.9% to UL
QB Deandre Francois* - took OV there this weekend but apparently is sticking with FSU
RB Jordan Scarlett* - took an OV there this weekend but is likely to either stick with Miami or flip to FSU
RB Dexter Williams - ruled out UF
RB Mark Walton - likely sticking with Miami
WR Auden Tate - sticking with FSU
WR Antonio Callaway* - ruled out UF, likely headed to Miami
WR Jared Pinkney - committed to Vandy (ouch)
WR Van Jefferson - committed to Ole Miss
OL Jalen Merrick - committed to Arkansas
OL Rob Dowdy - committed to WVU
OL Quarvez Boulware - committed to Maryland
OL Sam Madden - former UW commit, committed to UGA
OL Nick Buchanan - doesn't appear interested
OL Riley Daniel - was schedueld for OV this weekend but committed to Baylor today
DE Quandeski Whitlow - sticking with Cocks
DE Shareef Miller - committed to PSU
LB Leo Lewis - ruled out UF
LB Derrick Graham - sticking with Arkansas
LB Jordan Griffin - ruled out UF
LB Josh Smith - VU commit, doesn't seem interested
LB Adonis Thomas - Bama commit (former UF commit), doesn't seem interested despite UF trying to get back in
CB Jeremiah Dinson* - ruled out UF
CB Carlton Davis - ruled out UF
CB Davante Davis* - ruled out UF
CB Rashad Fenton* - OV'd there on 1/16 and appears to be leaning elsewhere
CB Chris Williamson - deciding between UF and 2 others for final visit, doesn't look likely IMO
Realistic board at this point:
ATH Jamarius Henderson - former UAB commit scheduled to OV this weekend
RB Jordan Cronkite* - 4star who looks like a UF lean, deciding between there and WVU
RB Jaason Lewis* - took OV on 1/16 and will OV to OM this weekend
WR Ryan Davis* - took OV this past weekend; would be one of crown jewels of class if they land him; AU/others involved
WR Shaq Wilson - taking OV this weekend, UGA commit
TE GG Robinson - UL commit as a DL, taking OV this weekend with teammate QB Jackson from above
OL Martez Ivey - stud. Former UF lean, now at best 50/50 for them with AU, might be trending away
OL Tyree St Louis - Miami commitment, still in play
OL Christian Pellage* - South Carolina commit, looks likely to stick
OL Fred Johnson* - looks likely to head to Miami
OL Trey Derouen - South Carolina lean, taking OV to UF this weekend
DL Byron Cowart - stud. See Ivey above
DL Cece Jefferson - stud. See Ivey above, insert OM for AU
DL Luke Ancrum - microcosm of where they are right now: unranked DL with offers from FIU and UMASS, offered today
LB Jeffrey Holland - stud. See Ivey above, although he is
LB Richard McBryde - AU commit, scheduled for OV this weekend, looks likely to stick with AU
DB Montrell Custis - soft Bama commit, took OV to OM this past weekend and OVing to UF this weekend
So things could definitely improve. They are the favorites for Cronkite. They could turn the tables with their top targets (Davis, Ivey, Holland, Jefferson, and Cowart), add a couple of other pieces like and come away with a decent class. Certainly one that looks much better than it does right now. But odds are against that, and the tea leaves definitely don't point that way. When the majority of your board is committed elsewhere it's an uphill battle. And when you're taking kids like Clark and offering kids like Ancrum at this late date, it smacks of desperation and trying to add bodies. And that is recipe for disaster both in the short and long term.
I'f there is interest I will update as we move into the last week before NSD. But if things keep heading this way we could see a severely depleted UF roster coming soon.
After Randy Shannon (UF version) beat out Randy Shannon (Arkansas version) for LB Rayshad Jackson (who had no other offers) over the weekend, UF is now up to 9 commitments. Of note, arguably their best current commitment, ATH Derrick Dillon, is a LA native who is now deciding between LSU and UF after visiting LSU last weekend. From reading the tea leaves that's about 50/50 right now.
Because of their low numbers they could add upwards of 27 players in this class. Many analysts are calling for them to take well less than that rather than reach for non-SEC type players. Problem is that's a double-edged sword: 1) If they take a very small class they are both setting themselves up for a 2015 roster that is incredibly low on depth and b) betting that their so-far-underwhelming staff can have a Butch-type class in 2016, and 2) in order to avoid the depth issue, they HAVE to take a lot of players between now and NSD just to get to what one would consider an acceptably small class.
Here's where it gets worse: Their realistic prospects in terms of high level players are dwindling quickly, and the guys they are getting (e.g., Jackson from above) are the kind of reaches that they would like to avoid. Looks like today they are about to land 2-star OL/DL Steven Clark (former Cuse commit) and 3-star DL Jabari Zuniga, a NCSU commit also interested in Arkansas. So, yeah, they are following track #2 above to date.
Guys they have struck out on or are trending the wrong way on (only including prospects who they truly reached out to, asterisk indicates took an OV to UF):
ATH Javarius Davis - ruled out UF
ATH Ray Ray McCloud - sticking with Clemson
ATH D. McGriff* - AU commit who took an OV to UF this past weekend and doesn't appear to have flipped
QB Lamar Jackson - is scheduled to OV there this weekend but industry guys think is 99.9% to UL
QB Deandre Francois* - took OV there this weekend but apparently is sticking with FSU
RB Jordan Scarlett* - took an OV there this weekend but is likely to either stick with Miami or flip to FSU
RB Dexter Williams - ruled out UF
RB Mark Walton - likely sticking with Miami
WR Auden Tate - sticking with FSU
WR Antonio Callaway* - ruled out UF, likely headed to Miami
WR Jared Pinkney - committed to Vandy (ouch)
WR Van Jefferson - committed to Ole Miss
OL Jalen Merrick - committed to Arkansas
OL Rob Dowdy - committed to WVU
OL Quarvez Boulware - committed to Maryland
OL Sam Madden - former UW commit, committed to UGA
OL Nick Buchanan - doesn't appear interested
OL Riley Daniel - was schedueld for OV this weekend but committed to Baylor today
DE Quandeski Whitlow - sticking with Cocks
DE Shareef Miller - committed to PSU
LB Leo Lewis - ruled out UF
LB Derrick Graham - sticking with Arkansas
LB Jordan Griffin - ruled out UF
LB Josh Smith - VU commit, doesn't seem interested
LB Adonis Thomas - Bama commit (former UF commit), doesn't seem interested despite UF trying to get back in
CB Jeremiah Dinson* - ruled out UF
CB Carlton Davis - ruled out UF
CB Davante Davis* - ruled out UF
CB Rashad Fenton* - OV'd there on 1/16 and appears to be leaning elsewhere
CB Chris Williamson - deciding between UF and 2 others for final visit, doesn't look likely IMO
Realistic board at this point:
ATH Jamarius Henderson - former UAB commit scheduled to OV this weekend
RB Jordan Cronkite* - 4star who looks like a UF lean, deciding between there and WVU
RB Jaason Lewis* - took OV on 1/16 and will OV to OM this weekend
WR Ryan Davis* - took OV this past weekend; would be one of crown jewels of class if they land him; AU/others involved
WR Shaq Wilson - taking OV this weekend, UGA commit
TE GG Robinson - UL commit as a DL, taking OV this weekend with teammate QB Jackson from above
OL Martez Ivey - stud. Former UF lean, now at best 50/50 for them with AU, might be trending away
OL Tyree St Louis - Miami commitment, still in play
OL Christian Pellage* - South Carolina commit, looks likely to stick
OL Fred Johnson* - looks likely to head to Miami
OL Trey Derouen - South Carolina lean, taking OV to UF this weekend
DL Byron Cowart - stud. See Ivey above
DL Cece Jefferson - stud. See Ivey above, insert OM for AU
DL Luke Ancrum - microcosm of where they are right now: unranked DL with offers from FIU and UMASS, offered today
LB Jeffrey Holland - stud. See Ivey above, although he is
LB Richard McBryde - AU commit, scheduled for OV this weekend, looks likely to stick with AU
DB Montrell Custis - soft Bama commit, took OV to OM this past weekend and OVing to UF this weekend
So things could definitely improve. They are the favorites for Cronkite. They could turn the tables with their top targets (Davis, Ivey, Holland, Jefferson, and Cowart), add a couple of other pieces like and come away with a decent class. Certainly one that looks much better than it does right now. But odds are against that, and the tea leaves definitely don't point that way. When the majority of your board is committed elsewhere it's an uphill battle. And when you're taking kids like Clark and offering kids like Ancrum at this late date, it smacks of desperation and trying to add bodies. And that is recipe for disaster both in the short and long term.
I'f there is interest I will update as we move into the last week before NSD. But if things keep heading this way we could see a severely depleted UF roster coming soon.
