(Photo credit: Josiah Davis, hudl)
The Gators’ 2024 recruiting class added its first defensive back in Josiah Davis, out of Nashville, GA/Berrien High School.
On Saturday, Davis released his top five: Florida, NC State, Louisville, Kentucky, and Tennessee. 48 hours after announcing that, he committed to Florida. He also had offers from Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, and South Florida.
Davis becomes the Gators’ fifth commitment in the 2024 class, along with running back Chauncey Bowens, quarterback DJ Lagway, and linebackers Adarius Hayes and Myles Graham. Those other four are all consensus four-star recruits or higher. Josiah Davis, meanwhile, is a three-star according to 247Sports and On3, and unrated by both ESPN and Rivals.
But a quick look at his tape suggests that may be a bit of an undersight. The potential is there.
Standing 6’1, 185, Josiah Davis looks to be a very versatile athlete. We already knew that from the fact that he also plays basketball, but as a football player, Davis does a lot of things well.
As a return man on special teams, Davis is agile, elusive, patient, and quick to accelerate with great vision and a penchant for making guys miss. As a QB in the Wildcat, he displays all those same things, plus a respectable throwing arm. While his prospects of playing QB are limited at the next level, he could certainly serve as a decent Wildcat, option QB in a pinch.
But Davis’s real talents appear to be at safety. He’s got great closing speed and a willingness to get physical and make the not-so-fun, in-the-dirt tackles. He’s still got room to fill out his frame and figures to be plenty strong enough to play safety at the SEC level once Mark Hocke spends an offseason with him, and with another full year to go before he gets to campus, Josiah Davis could be another one of those “diamond in the rough” takes that Billy Napier is quietly becoming known for.
Florida’s 2024 recruiting class now sits at #14 overall in the 247Sports Composite rankings. On3, on the other hand, has the Florida class ranked #3 in the country.
With almost a full year still to go before these rankings become finalized, though, there’s a lot of balancing out to be done.
