National Signing Day Reactions.

Fulton, Robinson, and Burns hurt.
Shavar was overrated.
Cleveland is a big get. Best WR class in a long time IMO.

Exciting EEs, meh NSD

Link to signing day press conference.
LINK

This is a live press conference link not sure if it will work when it is over. Ill try to find it after the conference is over and repost. Should be on Gator Vision.

First of all let me say this - I don't really care about NSD. It's just one day of a long cycle. What matters is looking at your class, determining if UF picked up the best players they could at positions of need:

In my mind:

QB: Grade - A-
UF did well here getting Franks from LSU, and they added depth with Trask (a developmental project) and Appleby - who will probably never take a snap at Florida. The QB depth chart is better than it has been in a while on paper, and the only reason this isn't an A is because UF was unable to take advantage of the coaching change at UGA to steal Eason. Now UF has to play him for 3-4 years.

RB: Grade - A
In a year with not a lot of amazing RB prospects, UF did OK. They picked up an instant impact JUCO, which they needed, and they took a really nice looking player at of Alabama's backyard. Not much more you can ask for here. A.

WR: Grade - A
Best WR class in the nation. The fact that Hammond and Swain are EE means they might be able to contribute immediately in a big way, Massey is a big play threat that should improve KR, and Cleveland was the cherry on top. Interestingly Wells, the forgotten commit, may turn out to be one of the best of the 5 if he develops. That being said, the top WR on the board ALL YEAR was NCM. Botching that recruitment probably cost Callahan his job. UF did NOT get their #1 at this position, something to keep in mind.

OL: Grade - B
UF has had issues on the OL for a few years now and could have used some elite players that could make an immediate impact, especially at OG. They got only one OL of note and missed on their big targets down the stretch. Mediocre OL class with very little hope of any instant impact.

TE: Grade - F (maybe an I if you're nice)
UF decided to put all of their eggs in one basket, and the guy they finally focused on, they lost to Michigan at the 11th hour.

DE: Grade - A
Clayton maybe the best rush DE in the nation, arguably and fills a big position of need. They also got an early entry in Smith that will probably develop into a solid player. They didn't really need more than that with so many DE on the team. They got the best possible player that they wanted here.

DT: Grade - F
They needed at least one, and the closest they got was Polite, a guy that COULD develop into a DT, but also might just stay a DE. Hard to know. They had one guy that they went all in on, and they missed at the last minute to their hated rival.

LB: Grade - C
This was a huge position of need for Florida. HUGE. They got three players, 2 of them unheralded 3 star recruits, and one 4 star prospect at OLB. They missed on their top players all year at this position. Honestly, given the huge holes on the roster, this is a huge disappointment. Pray for great player development.

CB: Grade - C-
If not for Chauncey Garnder, the future nickel back for the gators, this would be an F. On the outside Corner positions, In a year with a lot of talent in the state of Florida, they miss on EVERYONE, except for a 3 star guy that UF barely pulled away from USF, and a 2 star JUCO guy from north dakota state UF stole from Arkansas at the 11th hour. Just horrendous recruiting at this position.

S: Grade - B
Although the talent on paper isn't great, UF has been high on these safeties the entire time, targeted them, went after them, and got them. I would give an A, but I don't consider 3 star safeties at Florida a huge success.

K/P: Grade - A+
Huge position of need, and they got the best player in the country maybe. Good for them.

Overall Grade - C
This was the staff's 2nd recruiting class- which you normally expect to be strong. On offense at the skill positions it was great, but on the OL and on defense, the class was basically a disaster outside of the DE position. UF has a long way to go to win the SEC.

Yeah it's funny how fast things can change. If you had said 2 years ago that UF's offense would look set but the defense was garbage, you'd tell me to jump of a bridge.

Now all of a sudden, after two of the worst Florida recruiting classes in the modern era, here we are.

Defense is fine for 2016, I guess as long as Wilson and Tabor both stay healthy. I cringe to think what happens if Tabor and Wilson go down to injury.

The offense should be LOADS better.

Don't really understand the negativity with this class.

Who gives a damn what stars they have? As long as UF is winning on Saturdays why does it matter?

The entire team nosedived after the UGA game. It's no shock we didn't close hard because of it. The bowl game performance was absolutely dreadful and didn't help matters. Add to to that we had no DB coach and our OC was took an interview with Southern Miss, and you end up with this result.

MAC coached a teaam with numerous holes at WR, QB, K, OL, and LB to Atlanta in one year. Let's revisit this next December.I for one expect 8-4.

8-4 sounds right to me. Most people will be upset with that though, because it probably means losses to UT, UGA, LSU, and FSU, the 4 toughest teams on the schedule.

quote:

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Don't really understand the negativity with this class.

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Before I address the negativity. I like our class and we filled our needs. Missed on some and have ground to make up at certain positions for the future but overall a good class. Offensive skill positions besides TE we killed it in.

I think the negativity comes with our overall ranking coming from quantity not quality at certain positions this is not me really saying this but based on articles on most ranking websites of why they put us where they did. 2nd year is typically a good year for new coaches at top programs. And historically the last two classes are the worst since 2005 (ranking wise). In all honesty I think the gap between us and other top teams grew a little this cycle and the gap between us and the Tennessee's of the world shrank a little. Just my opinion.

And for the most part the majority of people are not enthused by how bad we got out recruited in the state. We signed 0 of the top 10 players in Florida. 4 of the top 50, when Miami had 10 and FSU had 8. This is exactly what Mac said he was gonna focus on.

You can point out a couple 2 star or 3 star guys that turn out to be awesome but look at the top 5 teams every year and look at how they are recruiting. These guys that rank these players do this for a living. And these teams are winning for a reason.

Grier and his fiasco and Treon being Treon really in my opinion is what hurt us down the road. Other teams had little to say negative wise about our teams direction the first half of the season but the second half of the season they have plenty to say.

Still trust that Mac knows what he is doing and this next year will be make or break for us.

LINK

Here is an updated 247 recruiting ranking on coaches after NSD. Our highest ranked guy Nuss coming in at number 86. Yuck

Collins 89, Shannon 110. Skipper 124, Rumph 143.

Bottom line... the recruiting strategy from Florida this year was suboptimal, especially in the I4 corridor as many others around the web have stated.

Have to learn from this and move on, and hope the awesome skill position recruiting can carry the team.

Still, this is the kind of 2nd year class on defense that can doom a new coach by his 3rd or 4th year.