Florida football recruiting: 5-star Jeremiah Smith set to visit Gainesville
By Will Thomas
![Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier waves to fans during Gator Walk before the game against the South Florida Bulls at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, September 17, 2022. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]Ncaa Football Florida Gators Vs South Florida Bulls](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2F6b9bd8252c4c3d6668491ea51f283ce79a161d52ef5f188246d88f6b6f5e940d.jpg "Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier waves to fans during Gator Walk before the game against the South Florida Bulls at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, September 17, 2022. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]Ncaa Football Florida Gators Vs South Florida Bulls")
Things are trending in the right direction for Florida football recruiting, and they’re putting themselves in play for some of the top talents in the country.
This weekend, the best wide receiver in the 2024 class will take a visit to Gainesville.
5-star Jeremiah Smith, a current Ohio State commit, is taking a trip to see the Gators this weekend, per Blake Alderman.
You can check out his film here.
Smith is out of Opa Locka, Florida, and is rated as the top player coming out of the Sunshine State. 247 Sports Composite Rankings has him as the 2nd-best player in the class, and the top wideout.
Andrew Ivins of 247 Sports thinks very highly of the elite wideout and has compared him to Julio Jones. Ivins says that Smith “…can beat a defense over the top one play and then box defenders out in the corner of the end zone the next.”
Jeremiah also has a freakish ability to pluck the ball out of the air and make impossible catches look routine.
Ohio State picks up a commitment from No. 2 player in the 2024 class, Jeremiah Smith.
— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) December 14, 2022
Brian Hartline continues to dominate the recruiting world. pic.twitter.com/nN8tstdH7u
Ivins expects Smith to be an immediate contributor to whichever school he goes to, and to be one of the best playmakers in the country.
So besides the obvious, why is Smith such an important recruitment for the Gators?
Smith, coming out of Florida, is Napier’s best chance in this cycle to show that they can recruit the state of Florida at an elite level and keep out-of-state threats out.
Locking Ohio State out of Florida would do wonders for the Gators’ recruiting.
One thing the Gators have going for them in Smith’s recruiting is that they have their QB already committed. DJ Lagway, the pride of Florida’s class, is a very appealing teammate to 2024 recruits. OSU is still looking for their quarterback.
After the news that Smith was visiting, we found out that Lagway will also be making the trip to Gainesville with one mission in mind: Get Jeremiah to be a Gator.
Lagway and Napier want to bring in a top-five recruiting class. In order to do that, they have to land Jeremiah Smith.
Keep up with Florida football recruiting at Hail Florida Hail.