Florida football recruiting: Jamari Howard names top five, sets commitment date

Florida football recruiting is assembling one of the best recruiting classes in the country in the 2024 cycle.

They just recently got a huge pickup in 5-star LJ Mccray, and are trending upward for a handful of other priority targets on the defensive side of the ball.

One guy who has the Gators included in his final five is Jamari Howard, a 4-star corner out of Miami, Florida.

Jamari will be deciding between the Gators, Florida State, Maryland, Michigan State, and Rutgers on November 10th.

Florida football recruiting: Ground to make up

Howard was formerly committed to Michigan State but de-committed from the Spartans in May of this year.

Ever since then, Florida State has been the team in the lead for Jamari, but the Gators and some fellow Big Ten schools are still in the race.

Per On3’s RPM, however, the Gators have less than a 1% chance to secure Howard’s commitment when he decides in November.

We here have talked about how good of a player Jamari is. He has elite speed and is rated inside the top 20 at CB in 2024.

But Billy Napier and Florida don’t need to make Howard a priority at this point. They have Wardell Mack and Teddy Foster already committed at corner, and are pushing hard for Zay Mincey to add to their safety class of Josiah Davis and Xavier Filsaime.

Howard was one of Florida’s top targets for a while, but with the way that their class has filled in, the staff has other priorities.

Now this is not meant to devalue Jamari as a recruit. Hopefully, he doesn’t end up going to FSU, because he could be tough to play against for 3-4 years.

But the Gators have other guys that they would rather dedicate their resources to go after.