Blake Alderman has hit the phone over the last couple of days gathering information for the Insider Report.
THE CORNERBACK BOARD RESHUFFLED
Over the past two recruiting cycles losing out on Rivals100 cornerback Elijah Blades on Wednesday evening and having four-star cornerback Christopher Henderson trending Miami's way may have been a crippling blow that the Gators weren't able to overcome. Yes, there is obviously a drop-off, but the Gators aren't completely out of options in the secondary as Signing Day quickly approaches.
* A week ago he probably wasn't a take, but on Wednesday evening Florida head coach Jim McElwain and defensive backs coach Torrian Gray conducted their in-home visit with three-star Eric Stokes. The speedy defensive back took his official visit to Florida two weeks ago and has seen Georgia as well. This coming weekend Stokes will be using his official visit to take a trip to Ole Miss. With Blades coming off the board and Henderson trending elsewhere the Gators have began to push harder for Stokes. The Gators also feel its Ole Miss and not Georgia that is their biggest competition.
* Florida offered Houston defensive back commit Donovan Stiner on Thursday morning. The Gators will be bringing the Texas defender in this coming weekend for an official visit. The Gators put on the full court press on Wednesday with McElwain, Kerry Dixon, and Kevin Barbay at Stiner’s for an in-home visit. This weekend will be Stiner’s first time at Florida. With all the coaching turnover at Houston, you would think this could be a flip Florida could pull off.
* Another name visiting this weekend is South Florida defensive back Brian Edwards. A few weeks back the Gators were not sure if the numbers would work themselves out for them to have room for Edwards. However, now heading into his trip this weekend that has changed. Edwards is coming off visits to Louisville and Miami, and the Hurricanes are feeling confident coming off his trip last weekend. This visit to Gainesville will be an important one for Florida because one thing that has been in the Gators’ favor is Edwards’ relationship with Randy Shannon and the fact Florida is talking about him playing multiple spots in the secondary.
STILL PLENTY OF OPTIONS AT DEFENSIVE TACKLE
Defensive tackle is still one of the most glaring needs for Florida to fill going forward. That is the bad news. The good news is that this is a position where the Gators have many options remaining on the board as they attempt to bring at least three, maybe even four into the fold in this cycle.
* Right now the names generating the most buzz are Breyon and Brandon Gaddy. Florida feels confident in their chances to flip the brothers from Maryland, but are still waiting to see if they can get them cleared academically as there are some concerns. Florida continues to feel that if given the green light - the twins would flip. The brothers visit Florida this weekend, but will not be joined by their mother, as she recently had surgery and cannot make the visit. Don't read too much into that though. She also didn't accompany them on their visit to Maryland. Since she won't be able to make it down, Florida assistant Chris Rumph visited with her on Tuesday of this week when he stopped in to see the twins.
* Another name that Florida has high confidence in landing is South Florida lineman Tedarrell Slaton. The four-star big man will visit Georgia this coming weekend, but most Intel points to that being a visit for fun. Several sources have informed me that Slaton is still very heavily leaning to the Gators.
* Another name Florida feels they are trending upward for is Elijah Conliffe. The four-star defender took his official visit to Florida last weekend, and all reports have indicated that the visit went extremely well. Tennessee is still very much in the running – making it a neck-and-neck race with the Gators. Tennessee is pushing hard for an answer because they are very tight on numbers, but to my knowledge Conliffe has not informed any school of his intentions. He visits Louisville this weekend, but I don’t see them as a major player here. Conliffe commits January 31st so Florida will need to keep up the pace these last final five days. For the time being things look good for UF.
If Florida can in fact go four for four on those named listed above it would be an exceptional haul when combined with Kyree Campbell.
THIS & THAT
* I am still waiting to hear back to find out where wide receiver James Robinson and Nicholas Smith will be visiting this weekend. In the past Robinson was planning to visit Ole Miss, but I am hearing that may not be the case. McElwain will do his in home visit with Robinson on Friday, and the Gators remain as the heavy favorite to land him. Smith was looking at visiting either Louisville or LSU this weekend, but has gone a bit underground. When I last spoke with him he said McElwain would be doing his in-home on Saturday with the family, but that doesn’t make a ton of sense if Smith will be on a visit this weekend.
* After feeling his visit to Florida went well last weekend, the recruitment of four-star C.J. Henderson has taken a 180 u-turn. The buzz has been growing louder the closer we get to signing day that Miami will be the school that lands him.
* Four-star Brad Stewart took a last minute official visit to TCU earlier this week. His mother and father didn’t make the trip with him, which gave Tim Skipper the chance to do his in-home visit on Wednesday with Stewart’s parents. The Rivals250 member will visit Florida this weekend with his family, and the Gators continue to feel good about their chances of landing him.
* Former Florida commit Elijah Blades tweeted Wednesday evening that he would be decommitting from the Gators. Blades followed that up by releasing a top five which consisted of Florida, Georgia, Nebraska, Oregon, and USC. However on Thursday Blades told ITG he was really down to Nebraska and USC, and will make his final choice on Signing Day. Blades also mentioned multiple times in the interview with him that distance was a big factor in why the Gators slipped down the board. Talking with Rivals contacts closer to Nebraska their staff is feeling very confident in their chances of landing him, which is interesting considering it’s still a four hour flight from his home. Blades in unsure if he will make a trip to USC before Signing Day, but said that he’s been there enough times in the past.
THE CORNERBACK BOARD RESHUFFLED
Over the past two recruiting cycles losing out on Rivals100 cornerback Elijah Blades on Wednesday evening and having four-star cornerback Christopher Henderson trending Miami's way may have been a crippling blow that the Gators weren't able to overcome. Yes, there is obviously a drop-off, but the Gators aren't completely out of options in the secondary as Signing Day quickly approaches.
* A week ago he probably wasn't a take, but on Wednesday evening Florida head coach Jim McElwain and defensive backs coach Torrian Gray conducted their in-home visit with three-star Eric Stokes. The speedy defensive back took his official visit to Florida two weeks ago and has seen Georgia as well. This coming weekend Stokes will be using his official visit to take a trip to Ole Miss. With Blades coming off the board and Henderson trending elsewhere the Gators have began to push harder for Stokes. The Gators also feel its Ole Miss and not Georgia that is their biggest competition.
* Florida offered Houston defensive back commit Donovan Stiner on Thursday morning. The Gators will be bringing the Texas defender in this coming weekend for an official visit. The Gators put on the full court press on Wednesday with McElwain, Kerry Dixon, and Kevin Barbay at Stiner’s for an in-home visit. This weekend will be Stiner’s first time at Florida. With all the coaching turnover at Houston, you would think this could be a flip Florida could pull off.
* Another name visiting this weekend is South Florida defensive back Brian Edwards. A few weeks back the Gators were not sure if the numbers would work themselves out for them to have room for Edwards. However, now heading into his trip this weekend that has changed. Edwards is coming off visits to Louisville and Miami, and the Hurricanes are feeling confident coming off his trip last weekend. This visit to Gainesville will be an important one for Florida because one thing that has been in the Gators’ favor is Edwards’ relationship with Randy Shannon and the fact Florida is talking about him playing multiple spots in the secondary.
STILL PLENTY OF OPTIONS AT DEFENSIVE TACKLE
Defensive tackle is still one of the most glaring needs for Florida to fill going forward. That is the bad news. The good news is that this is a position where the Gators have many options remaining on the board as they attempt to bring at least three, maybe even four into the fold in this cycle.
* Right now the names generating the most buzz are Breyon and Brandon Gaddy. Florida feels confident in their chances to flip the brothers from Maryland, but are still waiting to see if they can get them cleared academically as there are some concerns. Florida continues to feel that if given the green light - the twins would flip. The brothers visit Florida this weekend, but will not be joined by their mother, as she recently had surgery and cannot make the visit. Don't read too much into that though. She also didn't accompany them on their visit to Maryland. Since she won't be able to make it down, Florida assistant Chris Rumph visited with her on Tuesday of this week when he stopped in to see the twins.
* Another name that Florida has high confidence in landing is South Florida lineman Tedarrell Slaton. The four-star big man will visit Georgia this coming weekend, but most Intel points to that being a visit for fun. Several sources have informed me that Slaton is still very heavily leaning to the Gators.
* Another name Florida feels they are trending upward for is Elijah Conliffe. The four-star defender took his official visit to Florida last weekend, and all reports have indicated that the visit went extremely well. Tennessee is still very much in the running – making it a neck-and-neck race with the Gators. Tennessee is pushing hard for an answer because they are very tight on numbers, but to my knowledge Conliffe has not informed any school of his intentions. He visits Louisville this weekend, but I don’t see them as a major player here. Conliffe commits January 31st so Florida will need to keep up the pace these last final five days. For the time being things look good for UF.
If Florida can in fact go four for four on those named listed above it would be an exceptional haul when combined with Kyree Campbell.
THIS & THAT
* I am still waiting to hear back to find out where wide receiver James Robinson and Nicholas Smith will be visiting this weekend. In the past Robinson was planning to visit Ole Miss, but I am hearing that may not be the case. McElwain will do his in home visit with Robinson on Friday, and the Gators remain as the heavy favorite to land him. Smith was looking at visiting either Louisville or LSU this weekend, but has gone a bit underground. When I last spoke with him he said McElwain would be doing his in-home on Saturday with the family, but that doesn’t make a ton of sense if Smith will be on a visit this weekend.
* After feeling his visit to Florida went well last weekend, the recruitment of four-star C.J. Henderson has taken a 180 u-turn. The buzz has been growing louder the closer we get to signing day that Miami will be the school that lands him.
* Four-star Brad Stewart took a last minute official visit to TCU earlier this week. His mother and father didn’t make the trip with him, which gave Tim Skipper the chance to do his in-home visit on Wednesday with Stewart’s parents. The Rivals250 member will visit Florida this weekend with his family, and the Gators continue to feel good about their chances of landing him.
* Former Florida commit Elijah Blades tweeted Wednesday evening that he would be decommitting from the Gators. Blades followed that up by releasing a top five which consisted of Florida, Georgia, Nebraska, Oregon, and USC. However on Thursday Blades told ITG he was really down to Nebraska and USC, and will make his final choice on Signing Day. Blades also mentioned multiple times in the interview with him that distance was a big factor in why the Gators slipped down the board. Talking with Rivals contacts closer to Nebraska their staff is feeling very confident in their chances of landing him, which is interesting considering it’s still a four hour flight from his home. Blades in unsure if he will make a trip to USC before Signing Day, but said that he’s been there enough times in the past.
