Florida Football: Future Gators impress at All-America game
![Florida Gators recruit Jaden Rashada smiles on the sideline during the second half against the Florida Gators at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, November 12, 2022. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]Ncaa Football Florida Gators Vs South Carolina Gamecocks](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2Fcf9cf8c6b9f432cb5c8af0300ae6176e45467b416dd882b744ae19e2c3161392.jpg "Florida Gators recruit Jaden Rashada smiles on the sideline during the second half against the Florida Gators at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, November 12, 2022. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]Ncaa Football Florida Gators Vs South Carolina Gamecocks")
Florida football was well represented in Orlando for the Under Armour All-America game on Tuesday. With ten future Gators on the field, it gave a solid preview of what is coming on campus in Gainesville for 2023.
And while Florida had a great showing, one must be reminded that their work has only just begun.
Florida Football: The future is now
One of the difficult things in evaluating an all-star game is that at the end of the day, it’s an all-star game. Guys have no real stakes other than pride on the line and with early signing day virtually everyone is already locked in on where they are headed for college.
In truth, some of the real value of the All-America game comes from the one-on-one drills the players take part in during practice and it is here that multiple future members of Florida football shined.
On the defensive side, Jakeem Jackson, Sharif Denson, and Jordan Castell all earned high praise from Rivals.Com for their performance in practice throughout the week.
Stock Report on defensive players📈@RivalsFriedman breaks down the performances during practice and the new information that will play into the final rankings update later this month:https://t.co/lvRuEO3PAL pic.twitter.com/qus1p4C3Gq
— Rivals (@Rivals) January 4, 2023
In the game itself, Kelby Collins wound up earning defensive MVP of the game.
These all encouraging signs that Billy Napier is bringing in high end talent for Florida football. As we have also chronicled with the transfer of Cam’Ron Jackson, the journey for all these players has just begun.
Remember when Jeff Driskell made everyone look silly at his All-America game and Florida football thought it was getting the next Tim Tebow?
Oops.
The encouraging sign for the Gators is that a large contingent of their class of 2023 are going to be early enrollees, so we will get to check in on their progress at the Spring Game.
Until then, be encouraged by the week they had in Orlando. But acknowledge their journey has only begun.