Gators Secure Visit From Blue Chip Defensive Recruit

The Florida Gators have a blue-chip, in-state recruit scheduled to come visit Gainesville near the start of the summer

Harrison Smajovits | Mar 21, 2025

Florida Gators have a blue chip coming to Gainesville in a couple months / Matt Pendleton / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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The Florida Gators have secured a visit from a blue-chip recruit in the 2026 recruiting class. Four-star defensive lineman Elijah Golden will pay a visit to Gainesville May 30.

🚨NEWS🚨 4-star DL Elijah Golden has locked in an official visit to Florida on May 30, @Corey_Bender reports🐊

Read: https://t.co/PTHn6wGs24 pic.twitter.com/NS08uEYd8q
— On3 Recruits (@On3Recruits) March 21, 2025

Some of the top programs that Florida is competing with to land the commitment from this in-state recruit include Alabama, Notre Dame and Michigan. He also has offers from Auburn and Georgia, but these are listed as "cool," whereas Golden is "warm" on Florida and the other three aforementioned schools.

Of these four schools, On3 has the Gators in fourth with a 10.8% chance to land Golden. Alabama currently leads with a 22.9% chance. They put Bill Belichick's UNC Tar Heels ahead of the Gators too.

Golden is a top-20 player at his position and a top-20 player from Florida, according to 247 Sports. Should Florida impress him enough to land his commitment, he would the first defensive lineman to commit for 2026 and would be the third member of the class on the defensive side of the ball.

The Gators currently have three total commits. Four-star quarterback Will Griffin is the lone offensive recruit. Four-star linebacker Izayia Williams and three star safety Devin Jackson join him to make up a class that is currently ranked 41st in the country.

It's tough to judge the Gators' performance on the recruiting trail because it's such a long game. The schools that land recruits in a higher quantity early on are going to be higher ranked.

It's unlikely that Kansas, Lousiville and Illinois, for example, stay in the top 10. It's fair to say that Gators just need time to get going. We're still months away from the upcoming season having an impact on recruiting - if that gives anyone a better idea of how early it still is on the trail.

Ideally, they don't have to pull out a solid class at the last minute like last year. Billy Napier's current job security should help build a class earlier on. Certainty goes a long way.