Well, this is turning out to be quite a day for the Gators’ 2015 recruiting class.
Just three hours after prized running back Jordan Scarlett committed to Florida over FSU and Miami, the Gators got their second pickup of star caliber on the day in CB Chris Williamson. He was also considering Michigan, North Carolina, California and Georgia.
Williamson is a fantastic pickup for the Gators. I spoke very highly of him in my National Signing Day preview:
“This guy has ball skills. Let’s just say that. He’s officially listed as an ATH, but plays the most at CB. He has great leaping ability and does an outstanding job high pointing the football (which may also be useful as a receiver). He also hits his top speed immediately and is at his best in press man… but he has developed solid cover skills over the past year, too. Maybe this is why he’s suddenly shooting up the rankings.”
Now granted, Florida already has Vernon Hargreaves, Jalen Tabor, Duke Dawson, etc. at cornerback. But Williamson provides Florida with some depth at that position, and depth of a serviceable quality. You never know who’s going to go down when, and while Williamson could learn to tone down the aggression at times, he doesn’t have any glaring weaknesses, and I would feel relatively positive about inserting him into the starting lineup if guys ahead of him got injured.
The funny thing is what this does to the Gators’ recruiting ranks. Florida is skyrocketing up everyone’s rankings. They were in the low 70’s to start the day, and after Scarlett committed, they were in the 40’s. I’d love to see what this addition does to the Gators’ place in the rankings.
But more important is that the stress is now off of National Signing Day. Jim McElwain would have been under a ton of pressure to close strong on Wednesday, but landing Scarlett and now Williamson eliminate that pressure. Florida’s class has now filled a big need in the running back Scarlett, and added a luxury at the cornerback position (the weakness of the 2014 team’s defense) in Williamson. This may not be the Gators’ best class ever, but it doesn’t need to be. As long as Florida now closes on just a few of their top targets (Martez Ivey is the big one) on Wednesday, the class has to be considered a success.
