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Recruit Roundup: Week 1 Florida Commit Highlights

Highlights of select Florida Gators commits from the first week of the 2023 high school season.

Conner Clarke

Recruit Roundup: Week 1 Florida Commit Highlights
Recruit Roundup: Week 1 Florida Commit Highlights /
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Photo: DJ Lagway; Credit: Zach Goodall

High school football is officially in full swing across the country, and with that, Florida's 22 verbal commitments were able to show off their ability in week one of the season. 

All Gators put together a recruit spotlight to highlight a few of those commits and how they performed in their first matchups of the 2023 campaign. 

DB Xavier Filsaime, McKinney (Texas) High

The Gators' safety pledge and his McKinney team suited up on Thursday against Longview in what was an outstanding matchup where the Lions came out on top.

Filsaime did a little bit of everything for his prep team, stuffing the stat sheet with 11 tackles, two pass breakups, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.  

Filsaime even made an impact on special teams but not in the way many might think. The talented defensive back doubles as the Lions punter and recorded punts of 45, 53, 35 and 48 yards. All of which forced the Lobos to start from inside their own 20. 

Learn more about Filsaime's game from his All Gators' scouting profile:

An elite track athlete with a personal best of 10.52 seconds in the 100-meter dash, Filsaime translates his speed to the gridiron as one of the top safety prospects in his class.

Formerly a wide receiver, Filsaime moved to the secondary as a junior and immediately made a name for himself with 92 tackles, three pass breakups and three fumbles forced in 13 games. Although he did not post an interception in year one at the position, ball skills are on his résumé from his time as a pass-catcher and should not be of concern. Filsaime's athleticism will also lead to special teams contributions early in his collegiate career. 

QB DJ Lagway, Willis (Texas) High 

The highly-anticipated return to the gridiron for the Gators quarterback commit couldn't have gone much better. Lagway lit up the scoreboard and the stat sheet going for eight total touchdowns in the first half alone on Friday night. 

Lagway went 19/21 425 yards and seven touchdowns through the air to go along with one score on the ground. 

Below is a snippet of Lagway's All Gators' scouting profile:

The guy. Billy Napier's tenure could ultimately be defined by Lagway's success at Florida, whom the head coach offered last March and never stopped pursuing until his commitment roughly nine months later. A well-built athlete with a strong arm that has accounted for 41 touchdowns in two years, Lagway improved his completion percentage by 11.5 points in his second year as a starter and has proven to be a sharp decision-maker with a career interception rate of just 1.7%. He participated in the 2023 Elite 11 Finals and was named among the nation's top passers at the event. 

EDGE Jamonta Waller, Picayune (Miss.) High

While stats weren't available for Waller's performance on Friday night, the clips below show that his presence was certainly felt with at least one sack and a pass breakup on the night. 

Find more about Waller's skill set in his All Gators' scouting profile:

Florida beat out Auburn, Penn State, Ole Miss, several other SEC programs and 21 offers in total to secure the services of Waller, one of the most productive edge rushers in the class of 2024. He notched 106 tackles, 11.5 sacks, 24 tackles for loss, one interception, five batted passes and one forced fumble as a junior.

Undersized for the position as he might be at 6-foot-2, 225 pounds, Waller's plus arm length for his frame aids his pass-rushing ability and his athletic traits are of elite caliber, perhaps none more impressive than his closing speed. He produced a 20-foot, two-inch long-jump and 25.27-second 200-yard dash for Picayune's track and field program in 2022. Waller possesses an arsenal of polished pass rush moves including the swim, chop and rip, not to mention his natural ability to bend around the offensive tackle. His game reminds

All Gators

of tenured NFL edge rusher

Yannick Ngakoue

. 

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Conner Clarke
CONNER CLARKE

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