![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/ReutersImages/mmsport/213/01kyna8nc6epprrgp1vd.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]")
In case one needs a reminder of where recruiting is at in the modern era, the Gators are essentially in full-steam-ahead mode with the class of 2028, even though they haven’t physically put pen to paper with a single prospect from the class of 2027.
It’s with that in mind that Florida is aggressively pursuing a 2028 safety from Florida’s panhandle who has the type of physicality traits that Jon Sumrall can’t help but love.
Florida trying to close in on Cyion Smith
Cyion Smith is a class of 2028 prospect from Blountstown, which is an hour down the road from Tallahassee on FL-20. Smith is a four-star safety with Rivals and ranked in the top 200 overall, while ESPN and 247 both have him as a three-star.
Listed at 6’2” and 175 pounds, Smith is lanky. But on film, he doesn’t act like someone who is 175 pounds. By that we mean he is not afraid to lay the boom, and if someone has the ball anywhere near his vicinity, he is looking for a hit-stick-style moment to make that player second-guess getting the ball next time. His coverage skills are still a work in progress, and one has to remember the film he put out is from a high school sophomore, but the fact that he is as physical as he is does make him an intriguing prospect from this class.
Smith took a couple of campus visits this summer, and Gators Online has logged a prediction that Smith is going to wind up committing to Florida.
This is the obligatory disclaimer we have to include with any 2028 prospect, but even if Smith were to commit to Florida, there would still be a long way to go to actually get him on campus. Again, the class of 2027 verbal commits could still change their mind at any moment.
But there is a lot that is intriguing with Smith, and the fact that Rivals has him ranked as high as they do, even though Smith is the type of physical player that rankings don’t always reward, is encouraging. We’ll see if Florida can actually seal the deal with Smith, or if other schools start making a hard charge.
Most notably, Smith has offers this summer from Michigan, Ole Miss, FSU, and Wisconsin.
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