After a bit of a lull on the recruiting trail, Florida has suddenly picked it up over the course of the last week. Last Saturday, safety Donovan McMillon committed; less than 48 hours later, receiver Marcus Burke followed suit to rev the engine a little bit on a 2021 recruiting class that’s overall very good, but had been quiet for awhile.
Now the Gators have their third addition to the class in six days- and this one comes at their archrival’s expense.
Consensus three star offensive lineman Jake Slaughter (Ocala, FL/Trinity Catholic) has decommitted from FSU and flipped to Florida. Slaughter also had offers from Auburn, Utah, Miami, Ole Miss, West Virginia and Virginia.
Though a three star commit doesn’t generate the excitement that four and five stars do (duh), if there’s one position Florida can get away with stockpiling three stars at, it’s the offensive line. Not just because that’s one of the most difficult positions for scouts to really rank players at, or because the star system is far from an exact science to begin with, but the margin of error for offensive linemen’s ratings’ are greater than average. Throw in the fact that John Hevesy has a track record of doing more with less (the run blocking last year may have been the anomaly), and this might be a hidden gem that Florida just flipped.
Check out his highlight tape here and see for yourself what Florida just added. Jake Slaughter is a big, strong kid with a high football IQ, and on top of that, he’s a proven winner. He was a 2019 Ocala Star-Banner All-County first-team selection, and helped Trinity Catholic to the 3A Regional semifinals last year.
With the addition of Slaughter, the Gators now have 21 commitments in their 2021 class, including five offensive linemen. Florida now sits at number five in the national recruiting rankings according to Rivals, while 247 still has them stuck at 10th.
FSU, meanwhile, has dropped out of the top 25 in both ranking systems. The Seminoles sit 26th in 247’s rankings and 30th in Rivals’.
