Florida Football Freshman Profile: Sharif Denson is under the radar

As the season fast approaches for Florida football, we are continuing our series of the freshmen on campus and what the odds are they appear this season with the Gators. If you follow recruiting, these will be household names. But if not, these can be a good refresher to catch you up to speed.

Today we look at four-star cornerback Sharif Denson out of Jacksonville.

Florida Football: Waiting in the wings

Denson was graded as a high four-star prospect by Rivals.com and was considered by them to be the 15th-best cornerback in the country.

ESPN had him as a top 200 overall prospect, while 247 still had him as a four-star.

On3, shocking, had him as a three-star.

His film in high school showcased a player that wasn’t afraid to lay the boom, even though his listed high school weight was somewhere around 170 pounds.

Listed at 5’11” and 181 pounds now, Denson had great awareness and play recognition to peel off his man to jump a route for an interception. Despite not having imposing size, he still had no issue getting in the face for press coverage of opposing wide receivers.

South Carolina and FSU also had an interest in Denson, but he opted to commit to the Gators.

Odds of redshirting: Medium

Since arriving on campus, word on Denson has been pretty quiet. His name wasn’t mentioned much during Spring Camp, and early into the Fall Camp, the pattern is repeating itself.

That’s not to say that Denson is performing poorly or won’t eventually elevate himself into a mainstay starter, but Billy Napier appears to have visions of Denson playing the STAR position.

To get on the field with regularity, though, he will need to beat out Jaydon Hill or Jadarrius Perkins to get into the rotation this season. It is going to be tough to unseat either player, but not impossible.

And Denson does have a high enough ceiling to do so.