Florida football recruiting: Are the Gators on commit watch for 2025 5-star DB?

Florida football recruiting hosted tons of 2024 and 2025 prospects last week when the Gators beat Tennessee, including some of the best players in the country.

One of those guys who made the trip last weekend is the top safety in the 2025 class, and the 8th-best player in the country.

DJ Pickett, a 5-star out of Zephyrhills, Florida, has been one of Billy Napier’s most valued targets ever since he popped up on the recruiting radar.

He was in The Swamp last weekend and is making another trip this weekend to be in Gainesville when the Gators take on Charlotte.

Florida football recruiting: Possibly on commit watch

After the game last weekend, in a tweet that is now deleted, Pickett tweeted out:

“All I needed to see.”

If you ask me, that environment that Gator fans created combined with the performance on the field is all that a lot of recruits would need to see to know that they wanted to come play for Florida.

Florid has been the favorite to land Pickett per On3’s RPM for a while, currently sitting with a 24.7% chance to land him with FSU in second at 11%.

But if you’re Pickett, why wouldn’t you want to come be a Gator?

The defense that Austin Armstrong has brought to The Swamp is a different breed than what we’ve seen over the past few years.

And above all, this coaching staff has shown that if you’re legit, you’ll play, regardless of how old you are.

Just look at Jordan Castell. He was a fringe 4-star recruit coming out of high school but earned the starting safety job the second he walked onto campus.

Seeing a pathway to early playing time in your home state at a program that knows what it takes to win has to be an incredible recruiting pitch.

And it might be one that DJ is ready to accept.