The month of May has been good to the Gators in terms of recruiting.
Jim McElwain has landed his 13th commit in the Class of 2016. The catch this time is LaMical Perine, a running back from Alabama. He has also been offered by Mississippi State and Minnesota.
It was a nice get for Mac on a couple of fronts. Perine stands 6’0, 213 lbs. and runs a 4.5 40 yard dash- certainly numbers that fall in the range for an SEC running back. Perine is also the first cousin of star Oklahoma running back Samaje Perine, who last year broke the single game record for rushing yards. That’s never a bad talking point to have in your back pocket for future recruiting trips, even if it does admittedly have negligible value. And getting a recruit from the state of Alabama, even one that neither Auburn nor Alabama offered, could be a nice boost when Mac actually has to fight those teams for a recruit in their state.
Perine also has a solid highlight tape.
OK, yes, he is rated a three star by most ranking systems, and yes, he only holds two offers from so called BCS level schools. And yes, Florida does seem to be landing a lot of three stars. But a quick look at that highlight tape shows that Perine possesses a skill set that most three star running backs don’t. He comes off as a smart, heady runner who is more than able to make cuts, find the hole and explode through it. Don’t be fooled by the three star ranking, the folks doing these rankings are either asleep on the job or basing the rankings entirely off of his offer list and his commitment status. This is a keeper.
Perine would face competition at UF, of course. Florida will have at least three running backs when he arrives, and all three- Adam Lane, Jordan Scarlett and Jordan Cronkrite- figure to start out ahead of him. Throw in Kelvin Taylor’s potential (read: probable) return for his senior season and that would put Perine at fifth in the pecking order for carries when he arrives.
McElwain would have some work to do in fighting off Oklahoma for Perine’s services, however. Perine is planning on attending Oklahoma’s camp in June, and he has told the media on several occasions that getting offered by OU would be “crazy”. And we only need to go a few days back in time to remind ourselves that family ties can have a big impact on recruiting.
I know McElwain’s first full class is full of three stars. But let’s hope that McElwain holds onto this particular three star.