Florida Football Recruiting: Ben Hanks explodes to the ball

When the dust settled on the 2024 Florida Football recruiting class, the Gators only signed one true cornerback, Teddy Foster.

With Will Harris hitting the trail hard, they hope to sign a few more for the class of 2025 and have an official visit lined up with a four-star prospect in June.

Florida Football: Hammering Hank

Ben Hanks is a cornerback listed at 6'1" and 170 pounds. He is a consensus four-star, but the ranges vary. 247 has him as a top 75 prospect, ESPN has him at 154, On3 has him at 252, and Rivals does not have him ranked.

We would probably rank the Miami native somewhere between the 247 and ESPN ranking. 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.

He has some legit track speed as well. This season he has run 22.18 seconds in the 200 and 49.28 seconds in the 400. The latter has him ranked 32nd in all of Florida for the 400.

Hanks has offers from most of the usual suspects, including Miami, Georgia, and FSU. Florida has an official visit lined up for Hanks on June 7.

As is the case with most Miami prospects, it is going to be challenging to pry Hanks away from the area to come to Gainesville. Last season the Gators didn't sign anyone from the Miami area.

However, there is one key caveat with Hanks: his father is former Gator linebacker Ben Hanks Sr, an All-SEC standout during his time in Gainesville.

So as Hanks will see his rankings improve, he will continue to be a guy to keep an eye on as the summer draws near.