![Florida head coach Jon Sumrall speaks after spring practice at Sanders Practice Fields in Gainesville, FL on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_2577,h_1449/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/213/01kq83mzxfc0na8pb349.jpg "Florida head coach Jon Sumrall speaks after spring practice at Sanders Practice Fields in Gainesville, FL on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]")
One of Jon Sumrall's priorities since arriving at Florida has been to continue to beef up the trenches. Florida landed a splash on the offensive line when it got five-star prospect Maxwell Hiller to commit, and there might be more along the way.
On Monday, Sumrall landed his first defensive lineman of the class of 2027 with a prospect from Tampa.
De'Voun Kendrick commits to Florida
De’Voun Kendrick has committed to Florida. The defensive lineman is listed at 6’4” and 300 pounds; both Rivals and 247 have him as a three-star, while ESPN has him unrated. Based out of Tampa’s Carrollwood Day School, Kendrick’s film shows that he is a player opponents game-plan around.
In half the clips, it seems like he is getting double-teamed half the time and he still has the raw power to come out of them and make an impact on the play. And when teams miss their blocking assignments and give Kendrick a free runway to the QB, he will hit with some force.
He does still need to refine his disengagement moves, and the three-star rating is completely fair, but as the saying goes, he does have size that doesn’t grow on trees, and it’s not unreasonable to think he could be a 350-pound stopgap in the middle of Florida’s line in the future.
BREAKING: Class of 2027 DL De’Voun Kendrick has Committed to Florida, he tells me for @Rivals⁰
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) April 27, 2026
The 6’4 330 DL from Tampa, FL chose the Gators over Texas A&M, Georgia Tech, and Louisville⁰⁰“Boutta shock the world.”⁰⁰https://t.co/dyjaCUWbgz pic.twitter.com/jmcpr42YHO
Louisville is probably the most notable team that was going after Kendrick, as they were the only other team he had an official visit lined up this summer. Texas A&M, Auburn, and UCF are among the teams that have also made offers since January.
Kendrick is the 9th commit for Florida for the class of 2027. In the 247 rankings, the Gators are now 12th, and Rivals has Florida in 8th. With more potential commits coming down the pipeline, it’s not unreasonable to think Sumrall is going to finish his first full cycle with a top ten class, and with a massive summer, he could even sneak into the top five.
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