Florida coaches seeing top targets Thursday
Now that the month long recruiting dead period is over and done with, the Florida coaching staff is hitting the trail hard on Thursday. With only a few weeks left until National Signing Day the coaches are out looking to secure top targets in order to fill a handful of available spots to close out the 2016 cycle.
Florida head coach Jim McElwain will use his in-home visit with Florida linebacker commit Jeremiah Moon. The three-star defender is slated to visit Mississippi State this coming weekend and will then use his official visit to Gainesville for the weekend of January 29th. McElwain will also be down in South Florida today in order to see Florida offensive line commit Jawaan Taylor. Taylor is expected to officially visit Florida this coming weekend, but has mentioned trips to Auburn and Miami (where he was formerly committed) sometime down the road. Dates for those other visits have not been set up at this time.
The Gators will have a dream team of recruiters traveling together on Thursday in Chris Rumph, Doug Nussmeier, Kerry Dixon, and Randy Shannon. The foursome will make their rounds around the state of Florida visiting top targets.
The quartets top priority on Thursday is five-star wide receiver Nate Craig-Myers. The Gators at one time were trending upward for the Rivals100 pass catcher, but that has been reversed in recent weeks. The staff also plans to visit Craig-Myers’ half-brother, former Florida commitment, Jayvaughn Myers on Thursday as well. Both prospects are planning to officially visit Auburn this coming weekend.
They will also be in Daytona Beach today to see recent Tennessee offensive tackle commitment Marcus Tatum. Despite his commitment to the Volunteers, the Florida staff is looking to snag a visit from Tatum. Originally the three-star big man was planning to take an official visit to Gainesville this coming weekend, but at this time the trip is still up in the air. While in the area the Florida staff plans to visit UF defensive line commitment Jachai Polite, who is planning to use his official visit to Gainesville this coming weekend.
Their day is not done there, as they will move down to South Florida. Their main targets there will be the American Heritage duo of defensive end Brian Burns and tight end Nick Eubanks. Burns plans to visit Georgia this coming weekend, but many feel in the end his recruitment will come down to Florida and Florida State. Eubanks is eyeing an official visit to Alabama this weekend. Florida has been the mentioned leader for the four-star pass catcher, but keep an eye on Alabama and Southern Cal.
Running backs coach Tim Skipper is in his old stomping grounds of Louisiana on Thursday, where the priority is Rivals100 cornerback Kristian Fulton, who remains the Gators top target at the cornerback position. The four-star plans to officially visit the home-state LSU Tigers this coming weekend and will also check out Arkansas and Florida in that order before Signing Day.
Florida defensive coordinator Geoff Collins will be in the state of Alabama on Thursday. His main target is five-star linebacker Lyndell Wilson, who remains the Gators top target at the position. He will visit Georgia this coming weekend and then Alabama and Florida over the next two weekends. This is a three team race between the Bulldogs, Crimson Tide, and Gators.
While in Alabama, Collins will also drop by to see Florida commits Jeawon Taylor and Antonio Nelson. Taylor is also expected in Athens this weekend with Wilson and then will visit Florida the final weekend before National Signing Day. Nelson will visit UF the weekend of the 29th as well and is expected to see Maryland the weekend before his trip to Gainesville.
MORE IN THE ALLEY:
Blake Alderman talks of three current commitments who may not sign with Florida
Running list of weekend visitors and where Florida commits/targets will be
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