re: **2017 Football Recruiting Thread**

At this point, I'm not sure UF turns anyone down this year because of perception purposes.

Speaking of 4 star DL:

Madison (Ala.) James Clemens five-star defensive end LaBryan Ray has completed his final official visit. The Florida Gators were the last school to get the 6-foot-4, 260-pound prospect on campus before he announces his decision on National Signing Day.


“It was great,” Ray said of his trip to Gainesville. “It was good getting to interact with the players and the coaches. I had a good time.”


Ray spoke with head coach Jim McElwain before departing town.


“His message was early playing time,” Ray said. “You know, he really cared about [his team], and it’s a family. That’s really important to me.”


The elite pass rusher said his player hosts were freshmen offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor and running back Lamical Perine.


“They just told me you got to come here and work to get early playing time. That’s really important. That sticks out to me, and the coaches really care about them a lot.”


Ray said he is down to “Ole Miss, Alabama, Tennessee and Florida.” Did this most recent trip to UF help the Gators?


“It did,” Ray answered. “They’re very high up. It’s definitely going to be a hard decision.”


The nation’s No. 26 overall prospect in the 2017 class, according to the 247Sports Composite, plans to let college coaches know his decision the night before signing day. He will then go public with his choice on Wednesday.

A year ago, Jim McElwain made no bones about it. Recruiting in the state of Florida had to get better.

The Gators landed just four of the state's Top 50 players in the 2016 class, getting trounced by Miami's 10 and Florida State's nine. Even Auburn matched Florida's output by pulling four of the state's Top 50 guys.

"We’ve still got a long ways to go, but we’ll continue to work that in all those areas," McElwain said on signing day a year ago. "I kind of like how we’ve got something from a lot of the areas as far as within the state and not just focused on one central area. That’s something we still need to get better at, and we’ll keep working at it."


With McElwain's third signing day fast approaching take a look at how recruiting in the state is shaping up.

Florida actually has a chance to land the most Top 50 players in the state when it's all said and done, despite currently trailing Florida State and Miami.

The Gators have seven current Top 50 commits (excluding non-Florida IMG Academy prospects) but remain in the mix for four others. Three are Florida leans (Tedarrell Slaton, Adarius Lemons and James Robinson), while a fourth is still a guy UF could land on signing day (Christopher Henderson).

Land all four and Florida almost certainly takes the state on signing day. However, if Henderson goes to Miami, the Hurricanes will likely take the state with 10 commitments, with the Gators potentially tying with a strong close.

You can view the current breakdown of the Top 50 players in the state, as well as the eight remaining uncommitted prospects and their finalists below.

Top 50 Players in State of Florida, 2017

8 - Florida State
8 - Miami
7 - Florida

I want this Tre Brown kid that's committed to Oklahoma. Jit is fast as shite and his film is sick. His boy Charleston Rambo is a good WR too. Let's make that happen Mac

I'm sure some things will start to clear up tomorrow and we gain some clarity. I'm sneaky confident with LaBryan Ray. Something seems odd with his recruitment to Bama, and their mods aren't near as confident as they usually are. Now, that could also be because he doesn't say much.

Just for prospective...just by landing Ray alone right this moment , our ranking would jump to 15th...so adding afew more 4 stars you can see we will really shoot up the rankings...its low because of numbers right now

Hang in there Slayer..we aint done

And the Miami boards are in meltdown mode because they feel Edwards and Henderson are both leaning to UF right now, the only time they had a good shot was last week when Henderson was around UM commits at the USA game at Orlando, now the voodoo has worn off and he is back to his senses.

We are DBU and everyone knows it. I dont see us taking both Edwards and Henderson though...but you never know..we could load up and let chips fall where they may...some would r/s or if good enough they play and six dbs could eventually see the field one way or another and special teams could use help.

quote:

---

I'm trying really really hard to reserve judgement until after NSD.

---

This is a good mindset no matter what. The results are in. The recruiting writers tend to do this years backstories.

Also the position coaches should be announced shortly after. If the OL coach position is not filled in the days following, Stoutland's contract with the Eagles runs out on Feb 7th.

quote:

---

i'm curious as to what you guys would considered a bad recruiting class vs a good/mediocre class vs an atrocious class.

---

For this class, not getting 2 really good DTs and 1 more good DB.

Basically the 2014 class is bad recruiting, a lot of scrolling before you get to a playmaker (RB, WR, or TE) on offense. Super heavy on DBs when offensive playmakers were so lacking.

LINK