The tail end of last week was a whirlwind of recruiting news for UF’s 2014 class.
With a series of big swings from top recruits, Florida coach Will Muschamp and his staff has already pieced together an impressive class late with less than a month until National Signing Day.
Early Friday morning, 2014 running back Brandon Powell, Rivals.com’s No. 7 tailback out of Deerfield Beach High, flipped on his verbal commitment from Miami to Florida.
Powell was supposed to be on campus in Coral Gables last Wednesday, but after Florida offered him that day, he decided he would instead enroll early at UF. Powell made it to Gainesville on Friday.
Powell racked up 1,339 yards along with 20 touchdowns during his senior season.
Additionally, he had 21 catches for 289 yards — something that Powell will be doing a lot of in new offensive coordinator Kurt Roper’s up-tempo spread offense.
Powell will join UF’s backfield that will feature redshirt senior Mack Brown, junior Matt Jones, who is recovering from a torn meniscus, and sophomore Kelvin Taylor — a significant part of UF’s offense near the end of Florida’s 2013 season.
The Gators finished 2013 ranked 88th in the country in rushing yards per game.
The news did not stop with Powell. On Friday afternoon, wide receiver commit Ermon Lane posted on his Twitter account (@_MoneyLane) that he was decommitting from UF saying, “No Hard Feelings But I Just Decommitted From The University Of Florida . Not Because Dalvin Cook. No lie I love gator nation.”
The news did not come as a surprise, as it was obvious that Lane was wavering on his verbal commitment to UF. There is a possibility that Lane could end up following Cook to Florida State.
The Seminoles have three wide receivers committed in their current 2014 class, and the loss of Kelvin Benjamin to the NFL Draft exposes the need for explosive wideouts.
One of the receivers in FSU’s 2014 class is Travis Rudolph, who can make an impact on offense immediately.
If Jimbo Fisher can convince Lane to join Cook, the FSU offense will have lethal young weapons across the board to work with in 2014.
The best pickup Florida could get to replace Lane is JUCO prospect Eric Lauderdale. Lauderdale, who hails from Saddleback (Calif.) Community College, has offers from Florida, Arizona State and Oregon.
During his 2013 season, he averaged 100 receiving yards per game and had nine touchdowns in seven games.
Lauderdale is scheduled to make an official visit to Arizona State on Jan. 17 and will be in Eugene, Ore., a week later.
Lauderdale visited UF in November.
Another possible replacement for the loss of Lane in the 2014 class is Isaiah McKenzie, Rivals’ No. 54 receiver in the 2014 class. He will make his official visit to Gainesville on Friday. McKenzie also has received offers from Oregon, West Virginia and Kentucky, among others. UF’s passing game struggled in 2013. Florida finished 109th in the nation in passing yards per game.
A couple of 2015 recruits made news on Friday as well. Miramar High four-star safety prospect Kendrell McFadden announced his verbal commitment to West Virginia on Friday night. McFadden chose WVU over Florida, Alabama, Miami and LSU.
Highly touted 2015 dual-threat quarterback Torrance Gibson was offered by Florida on Saturday morning. Gibson is the No. 3 ranked quarterback prospect in the 2015 class, picking up offers from Ohio State, Alabama, LSU, Florida State and others.
Follow Morgan Moriarty on Twitter @Morgan_Moriarty
Will Muschamp and his coaching staff successfully flipped four-star recruit Thomas Holley from Penn State after flipping Jalen Tabor from Arizona just last week.
