Florida Gators Football Recruiting: How does Jerrick Gibson stack up?

The Jerrick Gibson hype train has been in full swing since the junior took a visit to Florida back in January. This follows a whirlwind year that had he decommit from Florida Gators football last February but still take two other visits to Gainesville in 2022. This is juxtaposed by him announcing four schools he was going to take an official visit to, with Florida not on the list as of now. 

Whether or not the IMG product choses Florida remains to be seen, but it is worth revisiting his highlight film to see if he warrants the hype of being the number one running back recruit in the nation.

Florida Gators Football: Came in like a wrecking ball

Right away what stands out in Gibson’s junior season recruiting footage is his ability to run between the tackles. In his first clip from the three-minute package is a burst up the middle that ends with a stiff arm that plants a defender to the ground.

Playing in IMG’s offense, opponents had no chance against Gibson if they didn’t load up the box. He simply stuck his foot in the ground and was able to plow straight ahead. The run he makes at 1:05 of his highlight package sees him bounce off two linebackers while a third tries to come in late to bring him down (he fails).

But even when opponents did sneak into the backfield, Gibson again proved why is difficult to bring down. Repeatedly opponents crashed in on Gibson during a QB read that the QB should have kept, and Gibson was still able to get away. He’s hard to bring down in the sense that opponents just never seemed to be able to get a hand on him, vs someone that drags defenders with him.

He has a 100-meter dash time from his freshman year of 11.33 and a 40-yard dash that was electronically timed at 4.57. These are respectable times but nothing Earth shattering. In his highlight package he never really showcased a run where he gets around the edge and goes up field.

However, he is listed at 5-10, 200 pounds, so he is more of a power back than a speed back.

And it’s not like he is slow. He repeatedly was able to burst through holes and run away from defenders.

So where does Jerrick Gibson fit with Florida Gators football?

He would join Chauncey Bowens in the class of 2024. Gibson is obviously much higher rated than Bowens and has the benefit of playing higher level competition, but the film from Bowens isn’t far off from Gibson and in some ways is better.

Bowens seems to have a better jump cut than Gibson and neither back has much on film in the way of pass catching or pass blocking.

We’re not going to label Gibson a must have considering Trevor Etienne will be a junior in 2024 and will still be on campus, but he sure wouldn’t be a bad target to get and would lend credibility to Napier’s recruiting efforts.