Florida football recruiting: Gators offer 5-star Ohio State commit in 2025

Florida football recruiting is starting to make it a habit to go after Ohio State’s top commits. They’re hard on the tail of Jeremiah Smith in the 2024 cycle and have now offered the Buckeye’s lone 2025 commit.

The Gators have extended an offer to Jontae Gilbert, a top-five player coming out of Georgia and one of the best safety prospects in the 2025 class.

Gilbert, out of Atlanta, committed to Ohio State in July of last year, but is still keeping his options open and taking visits elsewhere.

247 Sports Composite Rankings have Gilbert ranked as the 18th-best player in the country, the third-best safety in his class, and the 5th-best player coming out of Georgia.

Since receiving the offer yesterday, Gilbert has said that he’s feeling the love from the Gator coaches and is working on planning a visit to Gainesville.

When you cut the tape, it’s easy to understand why Jontae is so highly rated. He has exceptional ball skills and the ability to go up and attack the ball, high pointing it with ease. He shows these skills both on defense and as a receiver on offense.

He’s also violent from the back end. He has great instincts and crashes down to blow-up run plays and screens, and makes the ball carrier feel him.

His physicality enables him to knock the ball out and force turnovers, as well as blow right by wimpy blockers to make the play.

While Gilbert doesn’t have any track times to measure his speed, he shows you he can fly on the field. His closing speed on ball carriers, as well as his ability to separate from DBs when he’s on offense, is easy to see.

Again, it’s no small feat to take a recruit from Ohio State. But unlike the case with Jeremiah Smith, the Gators have plenty of time to flip Gilbert to the good guys.

Keep up with Florida football recruiting at Hail Florida Hail.