2021 Safety Dakota Mitchell Places Florida Gators in Top Five

The Florida Gators may be close to getting one of their rivals' former commits in Winter Park (Fla.) safety Dakota Mitchell.

Less than a week after de-committing from Louisianna State University, Winter Park (Fla.) native, safety Dakota Mitchell has released his top-five prospective teams ahead of his senior season at Winter Park High School on Instagram.

The Florida Gators will be one of the teams he will be choosing sometime before or during National Signing Day. A three-star safety, Mitchell, 6-0, 184 pounds, was recruited early and often, securing multiple power-five conference offers during and prior to his junior season. He is currently rated as the 28th-best safety in the nation, according to 247Sports Composite.

Along with the Gators, Mitchell lists LSU, Alabama, Georgia and Oklahoma in his top five.

Mitchell took an unofficial visit to Florida in November of 2019 and was offered by the team in September of the same year. Mitchell is known for his athleticism, playing wide receiver along with safety at Winter Park. He's instinctual and doesn't appear to be afraid to get involved in a scrum if need be.

While he does play two positions, Mitchell is being recruited by Florida to play safety, led by defensive backs/safeties coach Ron English.

The Winter Park safety originally committed to LSU on March 19th of this year, before de-committing from the university on Friday.

Over the past week, Mitchell has been increasingly active on Twitter and has even suggested he and one of the Gators' coveted recruits, four-star wide receiver Christian Leary, will be attending the same school, saying "Just know where ever I go I'm bringing [Christian Leary]. Package deal."

Leary and Mitchell do not currently attend the same high school, however, they are from similar areas. Leary attends Edgewater High School in Orlando (Fla.), a 15-minute hike to Winter Park. The two appear to be very close to each other.

Leary has drawn comparisons to former Gators receiver Percy Harvin and currently has the team as one of his top-6 schools heading into his commitment date which has yet to be determined. Originally, Leary was set to commit to a school on June 6th, however, he recently reneged on that plan, stating "After thinking about it, I’ll announce my commit when I’m ready, this decision is affecting the rest of my life."

Both players, Mitchell and Leary, appear to have received heavy interest from Florida, and it will be interesting to see where they both end up.