REPORT: Jax State Safety, Gators Have Mutual Interest

A potential defensive addition in the transfer portal has interest in making the move to Gainesville

The Gators are looking into a safety from Jax State / Dave Hyatt / Special to the Gadsden Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

As the transfer portal mania starts to get underway, the Florida Gators could have their eyes on an addition on the defensive side of the ball. 

According to GatorsOnline’s Keith Niebuhr, Florida and Jacksonville State safety Zechariah Poyser have a mutual interest in each other. He added an official visit sounds likely. 

Transfer DB Zechariah Poyser has interest in Gators -- and an OV is likely it sounds like (+)https://t.co/FUdIKzVEab pic.twitter.com/1n4Jbwkk1w

— Keith Niebuhr (@On3Keith) December 9, 2024

Poyser is a product of Wildwood High School - about an hour south of Gainesville near The Villages. 

There isn’t a lot of info on his recruiting background. When going to major sites, such as 247Sports and On3, you’ll get a profile with no image, and the only info available is he chose Jax State.

Fortunately, his Jax State profile gives some extra info. According to that page, Poyser chose the Gamecocks over “several offers” including one from USF. He was also a two-way player in high school but has been a defensive player exclusively in college. 

After playing five games in 2023 and getting redshirted, he played a key role on the Gamecocks defense. In 13 games, he had 75 total tackles, broke up 11 passes, had three interceptions and recovered two fumbles.  

After an 0-3 start to the season, Jax State rallied to finish the season 9-4 (7-1 CUSA) and won the Conference USA championship game over Western Kentucky, 52-12. Being part of that comeback is going to catch attention.

He could make for a solid addition to the Gators staff, which made huge strides on defense in the latter half of last season. In six of their final three games, the Gators held opponents to 23 points or fewer - the exceptions being 34 points to Georgia and 49 points to Texas. In those games, they averaged 16.6 points allowed per game, which would have been fourth-best in the SEC over a 12-game regular season. 

In those games, they allowed an average of 331.16 total yards per game. This would rank middle of the pack in the SEC over a regular season.