Florida Football Recruiting: With TJ Moore whiff, what’s next for Gators?

Compared to last summer, there has been far more positivity surrounding Florida football and Billy Napier’s approach to recruiting heading into this summer. The Gators already have a five-star QB, and virtually everyone that has committed has been a highly touted four-star.

But no team is perfect and with the announcement that top target TJ Moore is going to commit to Clemson over Florida, it leaves the wide receiver class of 2024 in an interesting spot heading forward.

Florida Football: Wanting Moore

We previously highlighted four-star prospect TJ Moore’s ability. At the time, we said that while he isn’t a burner, his ability to locate the ball and leap over defenders to win 50-50 balls was special.

The Gators seemed to be in decent shape to land the Tampa native, but the tide ultimately shifted to Clemson.

In the world of recruiting, missing out on one player by itself is not going to sink or break a program. But after other misses like Chance Robinson and NiTareon Tuggle, the list of available WRs are starting to get small.

Obviously, all eyes will be on the continued efforts to get number one-rated WR Jeremiah Smith to flip, and if Billy Napier and DJ Lagway pull it off, then the whiff on Moore will be forgotten about.

Beyond Smith, Florida only has Izaiah Williams locked up for the moment and is in the running for four-star prospect Mario Craver and will have certified burner Jerrae Hawkins on campus this weekend for his official visit.

As a reminder, Hawkins ran 10.37 seconds for the 100-meter dash this past season, the 7th fastest time in all of Florida.

All eyes will be on his visit, and Florida football is going to need to land at least one of the two; otherwise, the 2024 WR class will only be salvaged if Mr. Smith goes to Gainesville.