Florida Football Recruiting: Five most intriguing commits from Early Signing Day

Early Signing Day has brought a new cache of prospects for Florida Football to work with. After looking dead in the water, the Gators have surged into the top ten and will emerge as one of the winners of the day.

It is easy to just look at star rankings, but we here at Hail Florida Hail also like to go off of film when making our evaluations. As such, here are the five commits from today we are most intrigued to see on campus and in a Gator uniform soon.

Vernell Brown

Brown is the headliner for the class of 2025.

While he is a touch undersized, we said back in February that:

"His burst off the line is immediate and his speed to get behind secondaries causes consistent problems for opponents. When in space, opponents have zero hope of tackling him and every time he touches the ball is a chance for six points."

Ben Hanks Jr.

It felt like, for a while, getting Ben Hanks Jr. to Gainesville was going to be a tall task. But much like with Brown, it helps that his dad is a former Gator great.

The defensive back out of Miami is dynamic on the field and we wrote previously that:

"On film he tends to play deep off the ball, but he has such a good read of the game that he is able to explode and make interceptions. There are also cases where opponents will try and take advantage of his alignment and dial up a screen, only for Hanks to come downhill and still make the tackle behind the line of scrimmage."

Hylton Stubbs

The saga to land Hylton Stubbs was a long one, but it has ended well for the Gators. Stubbs was seen as a Gator Lean before committing to Southern Cal. Then, after de-committing from USC, he was seen as a Gator lean again before committing to Miami. Then, after decommitting from Miami, he finally signed with Florida.

The safety from Jacksonville is a versatile player, and we wrote:

"On film, he lives up to his billing as Stubbs can fit into almost any playstyle you need him to. Need a ballhawk? He does that. Need someone physical to come downhill to make a play? He does that too. His willingness as a tackler should play well in Florida's defensive scheme, and he is a great pickup for the program."

Ty Jackson

Another late flip to the Gators, Jackson is another player who was committed to Southern Cal before flipping his way to Gainesville.

Jackson is a touch undersized, but if he can bulk up we can see a pathway the linebacker to deliver some serious pain. As we wrote:

"Jackson will hit you, and he will hit you hard. If ESPN was still doing their Jacked Up segment, Jackson would have gotten a spot on it. He seriously looks like he ragdolls ball carriers into oblivion and there has probably been a time or two when opposing running backs have said "I need a rest coach."

But Jackson can drop into coverage too and pick the ball off, which is why he will make for an intriguing prospect once he gets his size up to SEC level."

Waltez Clark

The running back out of Tampa has been committed to Florida for so long that you almost forgot that he has been committed to Florida.

So, while he hasn't garnered some of the recent headlines like a number of other prospects, Clark still has the tools to be a high level back in the SEC.

He has legit speed with a PR in the 100-meter dash of 10.77 seconds and was the second-fastest junior in Hillsborough County in 2024.