On the Mark: Help is on the way, sort of

• Former Florida Player Feedback: 10 Observations
• The Inside Scoop: In-depth look at the first half of the season
• 10 Most Wanted Targets

You can make the case that one of the catalysts of Dan Mullen‘s downfall at Florida was his fumbling around with an answer to a question about in-season recruiting. That very week, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart helped to grease the skids by remarking that you can’t outcoach recruiting. Then, during his Saturday post-game press conference Smart took a not-so-veiled shot at Mullen, referring to him by saying ‘he didn’t like to recruit.’

Inside the Gators took an in-depth look at Mullen’s recruiting structure, and deficiencies when he departed: Behind the Scenes look at recruiting under Dan Mullen. Before that, back in 2019 we started looking specifically at the talent gap between Florida and Georgia.

Checking the numbers this year, there is still a ways to go, but the Gators are gaining ground.

• Playing with numbers comparing talent level (2022)
• A widening talent gap has to be a cause for concern (2019)

Note: As a site, Inside the Gators utilizes the On3 Consensus. However, that wasn’t available when we began this project, so for this, we are still using the 247 Composite Rankings.

SATURDAY’S STARTING LINEUP BREAKDOWN

2022 STARTING LINEUP BREAKDOWN

Though the final results were basically the same, based on recruiting rankings, Florida’s starting lineup on Saturday was actually less talented than what the Gators put out there for the 2022 game.

CURRENT CONSENSUS FIVE-STAR PLAYERS

This is an area where Georgia has just dominated Florida over the last six or seven years. Look at the numbers. The Gators somewhat closed the gap for a couple of years with five-star transfers Brenton Cox and Justin Shorter added to the mix. Also, this is opinion-based more so than numbers-based, but does anyone get less out of five-star talent than Florida? Looking down the

95.00 RATING AND ABOVE (TOP 100 TYPE PROSPECTS)

While Georgia is still a bit more top-heavy (UGA has three commits ranked in the Top 10 in the nation), overall Florida has as many Top 100 commits. Recruiting rankings matter. On a prospect-by-prospect basis, they are by far the best barometer of whether or not a high school player will be successful on the next level. However, not everyone pans out. The more high-end kids you bring in, the more you can afford a stumble or two and still have depth.

COMBINED ROSTERS TOP 30 RATED PLAYERS BREAKDOWN

Looking at this over the last few years, Georiga has had an overwhelming numbers advantage. Give Mullen and staff credit for keeping it close in 2019 and winning in 2020, when the talent level skewed heavily toward the Bulldogs. Other than that 2020 outlier, it has basically been 4-to-1 in the Bulldogs’ favor. However, beginning with how it looks to this point in this cycle, and what takes place in the Transfer Portal, it could be lowered to the 2-to-1 range, or even less, as soon as next season.

IN THE TRENCHES

There were plenty of reasons why Florida lost on Saturday, but the biggest mismatches occurred up front where Florida’s offensive line was manhandled by the Georgia defensive line and the Bulldogs’ offensive line had no issues holding off the Gators’ defensive line.

There’s good and bad news on that front for Florida.

Judging by the combined recruiting rankings of the class of 2023 and the current commitments to date in the Class of 2024, the Gators have started to recruit well enough along the defensive line to more evenly match up with the Bulldogs in the future. However, UF is still struggling to bring in top-tier offensive linemen. Of the 10 lowest-rated combined signees and commits to date in the last two cycles, five are Florida offensive linemen.

UGA DL Damon Wilson Jr. .9900
UGA DL Joseph Jonah-Ajonye .9868
UGA OL Monroe Freeling .9865
UGA DL Jordan Hall .9838
UF DL Kelby Collins .9812
UGA DL Samuel M’Pemba .9770
UF DL LJ McCray .9721
UGA DL Gabe Harris .9691
UF DE Jamonta Waller .9619
UF DL Amaris Williams .9509
UGA OL Daniel Calhoun .9488
UGA OL Bo Hughley .9477
UF OL Roderick Kearney .9469
UGA DL Jordan Thomas .9458
UGA DL Justin Greene .9384
UGA OT Michael Uini .9339
UF DL Kamran James .9328
UGA DL Jamaal Jarrett .9297
UGA OT Nyier Daniels .9253
UF DL Will Norman .9244
UF OT Fletcher Westphal.9224
UF DL Nasir Johnson .9212
UGA OL Kelton Smith Jr. .9209
UGA OT Marques Easley .9148
UF DL T.J. Searcy .9092
UF DL Gavin Hill .9034
UF OL Caden Jones .8967
UGA DL Quintavius Johnson .8950
UF DL Kendall Jackson .8942
UF OL Knijeah Harris .8896
UF OL Bryce Lovett .8783
UGA OL Jamal Meriweather .8879
UF OL Marcus Mascoll .8839
UGA OL Joshua Miller .8778
UF DL Quincy Ivory .8739
UGA DL Nnamdi Ogboko .8700
UF OL Noel Portnjagin .8656
UGA DL Malachi Toliver .8642
UF OL Mike Williams .8575

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