Commit Watch: Observations From Lakes Wales (Gervon Dexter) vs. Sebring (Johnnie Brown)

GatorMaven recruiting expert Brian Smith, who you can follow on Twitter for weekly recruiting updates in the state of Florida, spent last Friday in Lake Wales to watch two Florida football commits and their teams face off.

2020 four-star commits, defensive linemen Gervon Dexter (Lake Wales) and Johnnie Brown (Sebring), had productive days on Friday night in Lake Wales' 30-23 victory.

"For the most part when Dexter wanted to, he could slide through and make a pretty good play, and really didn't have a problem doing it," Smith said on the GatorMaven podcast.

The 6-7, 286 lb. lineman is a wrecking ball on tape, and his stats back that up. Against Sebring, Dexter recorded a whopping 17 tackles, with five for loss, one sack, and four quarterback hurries. That line boosted his season total to 86 total tackles, 26 tackles for loss, 15 sacks, and 24 QB hurries in eight games.

That's out-of-this-world production.

Dexter played both three-technique and nose tackle this past week against Sebring, but has shown the flexibility to play strong-side defensive end. Gators defensive coordinator Todd Grantham and defensive line coach David Turner have a stud in their hands for the 2020 class. 247Sports considers Dexter to be the 46th best prospect in the 2020 signing class.

Brown had himself a good game as well - unfortunately, Sebring does not post stats online, nor has Brown's HUDL been updated with video.

#Florida DL commit Johnnie Brown working here at Florida State camp pic.twitter.com/sMQfKCvJ9l
— Zach Blostein (@ZBlostein247) June 14, 2019

"He's [Brown] a guy that they moved all over the place at Sebring," Smith noted. "He played outside linebacker, standing up... he also put his hand in the dirt, playing defensive end. And on offense, they would give him the ball. They would go direct snap, he threw a pass for a two-point conversion. He also tried to throw a touchdown pass that was batted away in the endzone. Basically, he can do whatever he wants. He's a great athlete."

"The thing about Brown is I really have no idea where he is going to end up playing. Part of that is ironically due to Dexter because they may end up playing next to each other at the University of Florida."

Dexter and Brown look to lock up the Gators' interior defensive line for the future, and could even rotate between the tackle positions once they're developed and comfortable in Florida's defensive scheme.

"The long-term upside for these players is tremendous."

You can hear more of Smith's observations by listening to the GatorMaven podcast. Make sure to subscribe anywhere that you can stream podcasts.