Trenches Commits Along With Recruits
By KYLE CURTIS
GatorBaitMedia.com
Way back in 2020, when Dan Mullen was at the helm of Florida Gator football, Mullen addressed the difference between the Gators and a College Football Playoff team. After the loss in the SEC championship to Alabama, he made a statement regarding the talent gap in the trenches between Florida at the time and the top four teams in the nation.
A year later, 2021, Florida finished 84th out of a possible 130 teams in rush defense while allowing close to five yards an attempt along with 165 yards per game.
Not College Football Playoff standards.
An out of character front seven performance in 2021, after so many prominent defensive players have laid the groundwork for a historically (within the past 25 years) physical and dominant Florida defense.
Billy Napier, in his first full recruiting cycle, has made the trenches a key priority early in the process. Of the 2023 commits, four out of seven are lineman.
Isaiah Nixon
Isaiah Nixon is a 6’4” 215-pound edge rusher from Saint Petersburg, Florida while attending Lakewood high school. A four-star player, and the 38th ranked edge in the state, Nixon will be a great addition to Coach Spencer’s (chaos) front seven and will be a great foundation for this staff’s first full cycle.
Knijeah Harris
Knijeah Harris is a 6’3” 335-pound interior offensive lineman out of Bradenton, Florida where he attends the infamous IMG Academy. Harris will be joining fellow IMG product Kamari Wilson in Gainesville after Wilson broke the IMG curse at Florida when he was the first five-star recruit from IMG to ever sign with Florida. A four-star in Harris, Napier will now have two IMG products in Gainesville come 2023 in less than a full calendar year in charge with still room to get more.
Bryce Lovett
Bryce Lovett is the third out of four commits for the 2023 class standing at 6’5” and 330 pounds. Lovett is from Rockledge, Florida where he plays offensive tackle at Rockledge high school. A great sized lineman will provide key run blocker for Napier’s run-heavy approach.
Tommy Kinsler
Tommy Kinsler is the most recent addition to the 2023 class and happens to also be from Ocala, Florida. Kinsler, a 6’6” 330-pound offensive tackle, went to Trinity Catholic and plays for the legendary John Brantley. Kinsler will hope to bring the #OcalaPowerCompany from baseball to football in the trenches of the Florida Gator line.
Along with the four commits that will hold down the trenches, there are also three other athletes committed so far in the cycle.
Creed Whittemore, brother of current Gator wide receiver Trent Whittemore, recently committed to the Gators. Whittemore resides right down the street in Gainesville and is the current quarterback at Buchholz high. He is listed as an athlete and the 5’11” 175-pound athlete could see his role being similar to his brother’s once he arrives on campus.
Along with Whittemore, the Gators also have four-star athlete Aaron Gates out of Sharpsburg, Georgia. Gates chose Florida over schools such as Florida State, LSU and Michigan amongst others.
Tyree Patterson, a 6’2” wide receiver from Eustis, Florida, rounds out the commits up to date. Patterson is a three-star prospect who has shown promise in camps and one-on-one drills in recent months. He will add depth in efforts to reestablish a strong wide receiver corp.
Still very early in the cycle, Billy Napier and his crew still have a lot of time to build a top 15 class. Cormani McClain, the nation’s top corner back and third overall player, has been crystal balled to go to Florida.
Along with McClain, Malik Bryant is another top target. Bryant the third overall linebacker in the class has also been predicted to take his talents to the swamp.
With the potential addition of both Bryant and McClain in the coming months, Napier and his staff would find themselves with two key pieces in five-star talent to add to his defense.
It will be exciting to see what Napier can do with a full cycle and the kind of talent he has already proven he can bring in during such a short time in Gainesville.
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