Florida football recruiting: Gators make first cut for 5-star DJ Pickett
By Will Thomas
![A pylon sits on the field before the game during the Florida Gators Orange and Blue Spring Game at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Thursday, April 13, 2023. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]Ncaa Football Florida Gators Orange Blue Spring Game](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2F18d0ade0114e06dfbf898e3fcc611eb34549fd113af04f345c6811efd6fdaf16.jpg "A pylon sits on the field before the game during the Florida Gators Orange and Blue Spring Game at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Thursday, April 13, 2023. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]Ncaa Football Florida Gators Orange Blue Spring Game")
Florida football recruiting is going after a cluster of 5-star talent out of Florida in the 2025 cycle and has the early lead for a few of them.
One of those guys that the Gators have the current advantage for is a safety who’s ranked as one of the top ten players in the country.
DJ Pickett, out of Zephyrhills, Florida, recently released his top-13 schools as he looks to get deeper into his recruitment, and the Gators made the cut.
Other teams on his list include Ohio State, Georgia, FSU, Miami, Alabama, and others.
Top 13 🙏🏾! pic.twitter.com/8GOSFMcD2z
— DJ (@DJPICKETT5) August 10, 2023
Florida football recruiting: Already a familiar face
While Pickett is just now starting to finalize the schools he wants to look at and setting up trips, he’s no stranger to the Gators.
DJ has already visited UF five times, which is the most of any other schools he’s made trips to. As I said earlier, the Gators have the early lead for Pickett per On3’s RPM with a 22.9% chance to land his services, followed by FSU and Georgia.
DJ is a guy who you can’t let slip away. Corey Raymond and Billy Napier know that they have an advantage being an in-state school, and need to keep the pedal on the floor until they hopefully earn his commitment.
I wrote a bit about him when I went over some 2025 recruits that the Gators had the lead for, but Pickett has an elite skill set.
At 6’2”, he has great length on the backend with elite range to make plays on the opposite end of the field from where he started.
Pickett is the second-best player coming out of Florida and is one of many top in-state guys that Florida will be after in the ’25 cycle.
The next step in his recruitment is securing an official visit and with Jason Marshall Jr. set to make a first-round push this fall, the Gators are set up to be one of his top options as his recruitment keeps going.