Gators Territory is looking at previous Florida recruiting classes and examining individual signees, based on how their Gator careers transpired and what the class did overall.

We start the series with the 2005 recruiting class. This was the transition class from Ron Zook to Urban Meyer and would feature several players who were integral to Florida's National Championships in 2006 and 2008.

The class was ranked No. 15 in the country, which would be the lowest-rated recruiting class during Meyer's tenure. It's to be expected considering it was a transitional class

The class featured eight four-star prospects but no five stars but as we'll examine throughout this series stars didn't necessarily equate to success in Gainesville.

Avery Atkins - played in 2005, recorded an interception. Left UF and was found dead at 20 years old of an apparent drug overdose.

Reggie Nelson - Easily the biggest impact player in the class. Nelson was a first-team All-American and a Thorpe Award finalist

Josh Portis - was the backup QB in 2005, transferred after one season.

Nyan Boateng - Transferred after the 2006 season

Dorian Munroe - Played four seasons in Gainesville, missing the 2008 season with a knee injury.

Ryan Stamper - Appeared in 41 games with 26 starts and was a team captain as a junior and senior

David Nelson - Saw action in 44 games while making 14 starts… Tallied 46 catches for 630 yards (13.7 avg.) and seven touchdowns in his five-year career at Florida. Caught a jump pass from Tim Tebow

Jon Demps - dismissed from the team in 2007

Kalvin Baker - Never played at Florida and transferred to Tennessee State

Eddie Haupt - played sparingly before an injury ended his career

Louis Murphy - Earned a starting spot and was a captain his senior season. More than 1,000 receiving yards in his career and caught a TD in the BCS National Championship vs Oklahoma.

Ronnie Wilson - Redshirted as a freshman but played well enough to be named to the Sporting News SEC All-Freshman team. He was kicked off the team after an arrest for discharging a firearm. He was allowed back but never made an impact and was kicked off the team again after getting in a fight.

Eric Sledge - Never made an impact before transferring to Valdosta State in 2007.

Kestahn Moore - played all four years he was on campus and was a captain his senior season. Fumbles plagued his career but he was serviceable.

Brian Ellis - Didn’t qualify and never enrolled at Florida

Simon Codrington - Played some in 2006 before missing the 2007 season and his career was ended due to an injury

Darryl Gresham - Was a member of the scout team in 2005 and saw his first action in the 2006 season. He was on the team for the National Championship but transferred after the spring game.

Jonathan Phillips - Saw action in 29 games in his career for the Gators...Finished his career as the Southeastern Conference and Florida record-holder for PAT kicks made (78) and attempted (79) in a season, setting those marks in 2008.

Only six of the 18 signees in the class became starters for a significant amount of time – Reggie Nelson, Kestahn Moore, Louis Murphy, Ryan Stamper, Jonathan Phillips, and David Nelson, who was a late bloomer, starting in 14 games over his career with nine of those coming in his senior season.

Nelson is the clear-cut best signee in the class. He was a generational type of impact player on the back end of the Florida defense and one of the most feared players in the country during his two seasons at Florida.

The class was also filled with some tragic stories. Avery Atkins was the highest-rated player in the class but led a troubled and turbulent life off the field. He saw considerable playing time as a freshman but dropped out of school that summer after he was charged with domestic battery of the mother of his child. Atkins enrolled at Bethune-Cookman, played in three games that season, and enrolled back at Florida in January of 2007 but that didn't last and he returned home to Daytona Beach. Atkins' death had a great impact on Urban Meyer and how he would handle troubled student-athletes the rest of his career.

Ronnie Wilson was also dismissed after running afoul of the law, and Brian Ellis never made it to campus.

Overall, this class didn't live up to a top-15 ranking but it did have some bright spots and several players that would contribute to two National Championships.