Kevin Ford is a four-star EDGE from Duncanville, TX, who has been on the radar for the Florida Gators for quite some time. In that time, he has also seen his ranking shoot up to put him on the fringe of being a top 100 prospect nationally.
Coming off the heels of missing on Trenton Henderson, the Gators have made his final three and can't afford to miss this time around.
Florida Gators make final three for Kevin Ford
We first profiled Ford last July when Florida first offered him. He had been considered a Texas A&M lean, but he was also offered the day Director of Scouting and Recruiting Joe Hamilton came back to Florida after a brief stint with Texas A&M.
We noted from his sophomore film that he could benefit from a bit more explosiveness, and he needed to showcase that he could be "the guy," given that he got to play with the five-star prospect Colin Simmons.
Safe to say that Ford has made that leap, and his explosiveness jumps out immediately in his film from his junior campaign. 247 has him as the 97th-ranked prospect, and he has a composite ranking of 116th.
Florida has made the final three for Ford and is competing with Texas A&M and Ohio State. Ford was on campus for his official visit in June and has made a couple of other unofficial visits to the Gainesville area. Texas A&M was considered the favorite last year, but they have already landed some other players at EDGE and may not have the NIL funds to spread around.
And while one can never count out Ohio State, which was the last school he took an official visit to, the stars feel aligned for Florida to make a move.
There is no way to sugar coat this, the Gators need to land Ford to keep solidifying their class, especially in the wake of missing out on Henderson.
Ford is supposed to announce on July 11 where he is committing to.