Once again, the interior defensive line is an area of emphasis on the recruiting trail for Gators coach Dan Mullen and UF’s coaching staff — but it won’t be for much longer if Florida continues to land four-star prospects.
Jalen Lee, a 6-foot-3, 295-pound prospect out of Watson, Louisiana, committed to the Gators late Thursday, becoming the fourth four-star defensive tackle prospect to pledge to UF’s No. 9-ranked recruiting class.
Lee de-committed from LSU just two weeks ago, and a consistent relationship with Gators defensive line coach David Turner helped Lee quickly find a new home.
“To be honest, Florida never stopped showing me love and they were my first SEC offer,” Lee told 247Sports. “Coach [David] Turner never stopped recruiting me even when I was committed to LSU. He kept after me. He is just good at what he does. Everyone wants to get coached under him, because he’s coached guys like Myles Garrett, Fletcher Cox, Chris Jones, all those guys. He is just good at what he does.”
With Lee’s pledge, the Gators hold commitments from 22 prospects in the 2020 cycle.
Recruiting class is ranked number 7 according to Rivals, and they have yet to update with Lee’s commitment. Go Gators!
Great but…
We need Offensive lineman. Big burly dudes with attitudes. don’t get me wrong, I loved that we set the standard for sacks and the run D was GREAT. But we need to be able to get three yards when the need arises.
Oh, forget DBU. How about DLU? Let’s supplant Bama in the SEC. Oh, the future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades.
You are so right about the OL!
The gators will have two four stars – Issiah Walker and Wardick Wilson (2019 signee who could not get the visa). There are three other three stars who could break through. It would be nice to have a five star, but it is not like we are not signing any OL recruits this cycle. Player development is so important with the OL. I believe we will have a better OL next year with another year of experience. We did not lose a lot to graduation. It would be interesting if Ethan White develops into the road grader guard with another year of development.
Mullen did an excellent job of coaching around an inexperienced line. I think next year they will be better.
Why can’t we recruit offensive linemen ? What is going on? Is it time to panic?
No panic needed. CDM signed 4 OL recruits in 2018, 7 OL recruits in 2019 and 4 more OL recruits committed for 2020, with a couple of additional prospects potentially committing by signing day.
The Gator OL problems this season resulted from Mac’s 2016 and 17 recruits not being SEC caliber and CDM’s 2018 recruits being under-developed for SEC play. OL play will improve after another offseason of Savage treatment.
““Coach [David] Turner never stopped recruiting me even when I was committed to LSU.”
I wouldn’t put this one in the bank just yet, especially if he does not intend to put pen to paper this month.(The article does not address this.)
If Coach O pulls a natty out of his hat, I wouldn’t be surprised if this young man were to flip back.
And to those not inclined to agree, I say two words to you, “JaMarr Chase.”
Relax. Life is more fun if you live optimistically.
Chase de-committed after the head coach was fired and the program was a dumpster fire. So not a very good example.
Lee is signing with the Gators after he takes his only official visit with Gators this month.
What should worry you is LSU has 7 defensive lineman (4DT) still in their class and probably needed to push someone out which may be why he is coming here. But best to be optimistic.
Agreed. But leave room for sarcasm!
Thanks for the life lesson, but I seem to have muddled through almost sixty years without your sage advice, so I think I will be fine. Besides, I have no need to relax, because I ain’t up tight. Merely making an observation about a kid from Lousiana who has flipped once already.
As for Chase, how do you know the firing of Mr. Butterteeth was not just a convenient excuse? I don’t know either.
What I do know is nothing is binding until pen meets paper. Time will tell.
Point to Albert. Your serve, Doug.
I already won, Albert sounded a lot more relaxed. I’m glad he took my sage advice and admitted he was probably off base with his Chase example.
Albert is actually always relaxed since he’s a Gator-gone-Native out in California these days. You’d have to drag him back to Florida to even get him half way edgy again! 😎
I think I pointed out that nobody other than Ja’Marr really knows why he flippped,but what the hell…
You heard Doug — chill out, man. Enjoy some of that Japanese whiskey and a good 6×60 Nicaraguan premium while watching LSU take down Georgia.