Florida football recruiting: Gus Ritchey can plug-and-play anywhere

Florida football recruiting is trying to carve itself out a place in the 2025 recruiting cycle before other teams get there first and lock them out from great players.

They’re doing a great job of getting on these kids’ radars and getting the gears turning on visits.

One of the 2025 players the Gators are doing this with is Gus Ritchey, a 4-star athlete out of Pittsboro, North Carolina.

Ritchey is a do-it-all guy, so much so that different sites have him listed as different positions. 247 has his as an EDGE/ATH, while On3 has him down as a tight end.

No matter how they have him listed, all these sites have him as one of the top 20 players at his position given how well he plays them all.

Offensively, he uses his quickness and size to be an effective tight end down field. While he doesn’t have the crispiest routes, he’s a mismatch given his size and has the speed to just sprint to open space and make the catch.

Plus, he’s a powerful blocker on run plays.

Gus is a great weapon on offense, but I think I like him better on defense rushing off the edge.

He uses that same quickness to both get past the offensive lineman in front of him and chase down ball carriers in space.

The power he has as a blocker is also useful on this end, bull rushing blockers and laying the boom on running backs.

The Gators are currently behind at least Gus’ three in-state schools, UNC, Duke, and NC State, but they aren’t buried down in his recruitment.

He told On3, “I’ve been watching Florida since I was really young. I have always loved the thought of playing at The Swamp.”

Perhaps Billy Napier and the Gators aren’t that far behind.

Keep up with Florida football recruiting at Hail Florida Hail.