Florida football recruiting: Malik Blocton sets commitment date, top five schools

Florida football recruiting has already locked down tons of elite defensive talent in the 2024 recruiting class. Their LB haul is one of the best in the country, and they have a couple of big names committed at DL (Amaris Williams, Nasir Johnson).

And yet, the Gators now await another decision from a DL target out of Pike Road, Alabama, who will be making his commitment this Saturday at 4 pm ET.

Malik Blocton, a 3-star player and composite top-50 DL, is just about ready to announce where he’ll be playing his college ball.

The Gators are among the final five schools being considered.

Florida football recruiting: Home away from home

The final five that Blocton is deciding between include the Gators, Alabama, Auburn, Troy, and Texas.

Being from Alabama, it’s a given that both Auburn and Alabama will be involved in Malik’s recruitment. Auburn currently leads per On3’s RPM with a 94.1% chance to land the DL, with Texas in second at 1.8% and Bama in third at 1.1%.

Something that’s unique about Blocton’s recruitment is that he’s only taken one official visit throughout his entire process, which was to Texas.

He took two unofficial trips to Gainesville, two UOVs to Bama, and has seen Auburn nine times, all unofficially.

He hasn’t taken any trips to Troy, the other school in his top five, per On3.

When it comes to the Alabama schools, the lack of OVs may have just been due to him already being familiar with their campuses and programs, but the Gators not earning one doesn’t do wonders for their odds as we near his commitment.

But don’t expect Billy Napier to let off the gas. Blocton would be a very good addition to the 2024 class and would become the Gators’ third-ranked DL commit in this cycle.

With the momentum they have on the trail, and all the surprise commits they’ve already pulled off, I won’t let my guard down when it comes to the Gators going after recruits.