Gators Among Final Teams Vying for Top-10 Running Back Recruit

The Florida Gators competing against four other SEC schools for a top running back recruit

Harrison Smajovits | Feb 16, 2025

This addition would be a nice bounce back from losing a key recruit over the weekend / Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK

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Florida Gators

The Florida Gators are among the 10 teams still in the running for one of the top running back recruits of the 2026 class. According to On3’s Hayes Fawcett, four-star recruit Jonaz Walton has the Gators along with four other SEC schools vying for his commitment.

Other notable schools pushing for Walton are rivals Florida State, Georgia, Tennessee and Miami. Fellow SEC schools Alabama and Auburn as well as Oregon, Stanford and Notre Dame round out the remainder of teams who can still win him over.

NEWS: Four-Star RB Jonaz Walton is down to 🔟 Schools, he tells me for @on3recruits

The 5’10 210 RB from Carrollton, GA is ranked as the No. 4 RB in the ‘26 Class (per On3)

Where Should He Go?👇🏽https://t.co/Ggf7HrO7cb pic.twitter.com/0zb8BKcesu
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) February 16, 2025

Walton is No. 132 nationally, the No. 15 player from Georgia and the No. 10 player at his position, according to 247 Sports. Currently, there are no crystal ball predictions for where he might flip. With 10 teams still on his shortlist, that checks.

So far, the Gators 2026 recruiting class only has two commits: four-star quarterback Will Griffin and three-star safety Devin Jackson. They recently lost four-star cornerback Jaelen Waters. He decommited on Saturday following the departure of Will Harris.

By default, if he were to commit today, he’d be the first running back commit and the second offensive commit overall for the Gators.

Currently, the 2026 recruiting class is ranked 42nd in the country. If they landed any more commits, they’d rocket up the rankings pretty quickly.

In 2025, the Gators went from having a recruiting class in the mid-40s halfway through the season and finished No. 10 when it was all said and done. It’s a long recruiting trail ahead.

Walton would join a Gators running back core with surging names and gaining further talent in the 2025 class. Last season, we saw the rise of freshman Jadan Baugh and junior running back Ja’Kobi Jackson. While injured for most of last season, Treyaun Webb still shows a lot of promise.

The 2025 recruiting trail saw three running backs choose Florida. Four-star Waltz Clark and three-star Chad Gasper are already enrolled. Three-star Byron Lewis has signed on but hasn’t enrolled yet.