![Florida Head Coach Jon Sumrall greats fans as he heads to the locker room during Gator Walk before the Orange and Blue game at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, April 11, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_2591,h_1457/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/213/01krpc5e0s8xprjtf14d.jpg "Florida Head Coach Jon Sumrall greats fans as he heads to the locker room during Gator Walk before the Orange and Blue game at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, April 11, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]")
Florida’s class of 2027 has been on fire, and the Gators are hoping to make even more headway in the next couple of weeks when official visits begin. Florida currently has 14 players committed and is in the running on several others to potentially pump that number over 20 by the end of the month.
Sometimes, though, a team takes a player who may not be highly rated in the star rankings, but has the size that makes him an intriguing prospect to take. It appears Florida is on the verge of landing one of those types of players.
Florida favored to land Cain Van Norden
Cain Van Norden is a defensive lineman out of Maryland. Listed at 6’7” and 265 pounds, he is a three-star with both Rivals and 247, while ESPN has him unrated.
Van Norden is intriguing because his size is impossible to miss, and if a team were to put 40+ pounds on him, he could quickly morph into a monster. As it stands right now, his star ranking is fair enough based on his film. His frame just engulfs anyone who comes near him, and it makes him a valuable asset in the run game. He is still lacking the explosiveness and power needed to be a four-star, but he has a ceiling that is far higher than most three-stars because of his sheer size.
Tyler Harden of 247 has logged a prediction that Van Norden is going to land with the Gators. Florida offered Van Norden back in March, and he was on campus in April, which is the only logged visit he has taken, according to 247 and Rivals. Maryland, Ole Miss, Virginia Tech, and Michigan State are all also set to get official visits in the coming weeks.
While going after a player ranked 736th in the 247 Composite isn’t going to ignite the fan base, Sumrall noted earlier this week that it is important to not always look at star rankings:
“There's some guys that are three stars that we've seen work out, and we've got ground footage on that we're like, this guy's better than maybe another highly ranked guy.”
Van Norden will make his official visit to Florida on June 4.
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