What Does Jaden Rashada's Commitment Mean for the Gators?
Photo: Jaden Rashada; Credit: Zach Goodall
Just 15 days ago, the Florida Gators were sitting in disarray as their top overall target on the 2023 big board, cornerback Cormani McClain, spurned UF to take his talents to Miami.
It was not only a major turn of events that left Florida wondering what went wrong, but it was yet another loss in the recruiting department to the Hurricanes since Billy Napier and Mario Cristobal took over the respective jobs this past offseason.
Reeling after losing out on the guy who was tabbed as the class highlight, Florida looked for a new piece to fill that void.
In doing so, they rekindled an old relationship with the nation’s third-ranked quarterback and seventh-ranked player in the country according to the SI99, Jaden Rashada.
Following a winding road before his first commitment in the summer, Rashada initially shared his intentions to join Cristobal in Coral Gables to lead the Hurricanes into the future. However, after sitting on his pledge to the Hurricanes for a few months, Rashada began to see Gainesville as the place for him.
“I have tremendous respect for Miami and what they are going to accomplish there but I have watched this season and Coach Napier and his team are building something very special in The Swamp and I want to be a part of it,” Rashada wrote in his flip letter from Miami to Florida.
It marks the question: What does Rashada’s flip mean for the Florida Gators in the short and long term?
There are many different avenues to take this question, given the status of the west coast talent.
Firstly, this helps Florida get one back on Miami to try to even the recruiting battle between the in-state rivals, as that’s already shown to be an aspect of the recruiting game for both sides over the next few years, if not longer.
It may have taken longer than hoped to get Rashada in their class, but the Gators pulled it off in dramatic fashion and now have the most significant thing they were missing in the 2023 cycle: a face of the operation.
The Gators 2023 class is inarguably talented, and it provides depth at positions that are drastically in need of bodies in the years moving forward. With a bevy of prospects committed to assume roles at wide receiver, defensive back and defensive line specifically, Napier and Co. have done a great job addressing the evident holes the roster presented in year one of their tenures.
However, each time Florida looked to reel in the corner piece to the puzzle, they failed.
Defensive line commit Kelby Collins did a good job holding down the fort for Florida as they searched for the missing entity, but he was never there to fill that spot permanently. That role is usually reserved for top-tier quarterbacks.
On Thursday, the Pittsburg, Calif., signal caller filled that looming void.
While the elite star power may still be missing, the Gators added momentum by adding Rashada, which gives them the potential to land other top recruits alongside him down the stretch of the 2023 cycle.
If he can lure in other top recruits, with highly rated prospects like offensive linemen Samson Okunlola and Lucas Simmons, defensive end Qua Russaw, cornerback Desmond Ricks and others still on the open market — Florida will stand in a firm position to challenge for a top-five class come to the end of 2023.
All in all, the presence Rashada brings to the table encapsulates more than his future presence on the field. He adds legitimacy to the bump class Napier and Co. are constructing in Gainesville and has the potential to aid their recruiting efforts moving forward by simply being a player other athletes want to line up alongside at the next level.
That quest begins on Saturday as Rashada visits alongside priority recruits in Simmons and Ricks as well as an assortment of Florida commits.
When he arrives at Florida, Rashada possesses the talent to likely step into a quarterback back either for QB1 or QB2 — depending on current Gators QB Anthony Richardson’s direction following the end of 2022. This gives UF a luxury of an immediate plug as the quarterback room currently seems shaky following eventual Richardson's departure.
No matter which direction you look in the Rashada to Florida saga, the final outcome provides nothing but glowing positives in the short and long term for the Napier-led squad.
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