(Photo via Myles Graham, twitter)
Billy Napier and the Gators have enjoyed a meteoric rise up the class of 2024 recruiting rankings in the past few weeks. Today, they got a jump start on their 2024 recruiting class with Myles Graham.
Graham, a consensus four-star linebacker prospect out of Naples, FL by way of Atlanta, GA, becomes the first member of the Gators’ 2024 class. And he’s a fitting member to get that class started.
Myles Graham is the son of former Florida running back Earnest Graham, a major piece on Florida’s 2001 team that finished ranked in the top five and won the Orange Bowl. Following his college career, Earnest played nine seasons for the Buccaneers, totaling nearly 3,000 all-purpose yards.
For a rising high school junior, Myles Graham already has an incredible offer list. Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Auburn, FSU, and Texas A&M are among the several dozen other schools to offer him.
You can watch his highlight tape here.
Graham plays both sides of the ball in high school. Though he definitely projects better as a linebacker than a running back at the next level, you can definitely see his father’s ball-carrier skills on display when he’s on offense. He’s got great vision and feet, and can make people miss at an impressive rate.
But he’s at his best on defense. He’s got a tremendous nose for the football, and does a great job sifting through the metaphorical garbage in his way in order to get to the ball carrier. He has great hands and can disengage from blocks very well for a high school sophomore. He’s capable of making the highlight reel hit, but more importantly, he’s a very strong tackler who can wrap up and make certain that the play ends with him rather than going for the SportsCenter hit and potentially missing.
And the stats reflect all of that. He made 130 tackles and batted away eight passes a season ago for Naples Evangelical Christian, even picking off a pass. Also worth noting is that because of his incredible natural athleticism, Myles Graham is also an accomplished track and field athlete. As a freshman, he finished sixth in Florida’s 1A state track meet in the javelin throw.
On top of all else, Graham’s commitment is another feather in the cap of Jay Bateman, Florida’s linebacker coach. After missing on some prospects early in his time at Florida, Bateman has now landed two commits in less than a week, following the flip of Jaden Robinson from South Carolina.
