Florida Gators 2023 Recruits to Know: Offensive Tackle
With the 2023 recruiting cycle now officially underway, the Florida Gators are looking to make significant moves on the trail with a new coaching staff in place led by head coach Billy Napier.
Moving onto, arguably, Florida's biggest position of need, offensive tackle, AllGators is taking a look at the early targets that have emerged on the Gators' board, as well as prospects that are worth keeping an eye on for an eventual offer.
The Gators have been very selective while handing out offers to members of the 2023 class, but understanding their need for help along the offensive line, offensive line coaches Rob Sale and Darnell Stapleton have been active in offering offensive tackles and getting prospects onto campus for visits.
Payton Kirkland, Dr. Phillips (Fla.)
Kirkland has quickly emerged atop the Gators' recruiting board as a whole, not to mention the team's list of offensive tackle targets.
The Orlando-area product has been coveted nationally dating back to his freshman season of high school and the Gators had fallen out of the picture quickly under the last staff. But since Napier, Sale and Stapleton arrived in Gainesville, the tides of turned in the 6-foot-6, 345-pound tackle's recruitment.
Kirkland visited the program unofficially on March 5 and seemed to enjoy every second of his trip, noting that UF has soared close to the top of his suitors while speaking with AllGators.
RELATED: Payton Kirkland recaps visit to Florida, meeting new coaching staff
"It’s a different atmosphere, different spirit around the program. Everything was just beautiful," said Kirkland. "...[Florida] was at the bottom of my radar before this trip and now they’re near the top."
Immediately following his visit, Kirkland alongside fellow Orlando recruits Derrick LeBlanc and Malik Bryant shared that they will jointly commit to their schools of choice on July 23. The Gators could very well be a finalist considering their newfound relevancy in Kirkland's recruitment.
Francis Mauigoa, IMG Academy (Fla.)
The Gators broke their "IMG curse" in December 2021 by landing the signature of safety Kamari Wilson, and look to continue pulling talent from the Bradenton powerhouse in the 2023 cycle.
Mauigoa is one of several Ascenders that Florida has its eyes on. The American Samoa native possesses a ready-to-play frame at tackle, standing at 6-foot-6, 325 pounds, and moves extremely well for his size. He also packs a ton of power into his punch, and this combination of skills to go along with his size suggests that he will, indeed, play early at his school of choice.
Could that school be Florida? Perhaps. The Gators did not appear to factor into Mauigoa's recruitment until Napier and Co. arrived, and since then, Mauigoa has visited the program and met with the new staff, doing so on March 5.
Lucas Simmons, Clearwater Academy International (Fla.)
One of the longest offensive tackles in the class at 6-foot-7 with an 84-inch wingspan, Simmons has quickly surged upward in the consensus recruiting rankings. Schools such as Florida, Auburn, USC, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Washington have come calling with an offer since the very end of last year.
Simmons told AllGators that he intends to visit Florida on March 15, after receiving an offer from the Gators in January. Both Sale and Stapleton have factored into Simmons' recruitment to UF.
Simmons was a standout at February's Under Armour Miami camp, according to Sports Illustrated All-American.
The Sweden native has added good weight to a towering 6’7” frame and looked effective on the edge against pass rushers much smaller in stature. The sheer length and developing power, in addition to a year of good varsity competition at Clearwater (Fla.) Academy International, has his stock pointed up for the foreseeable future.
Monroe Freeling, Oceanside Collegiate Academy (S.C.)
Freeling had an interest in Florida before a Gators offer came his way, sharing his thoughts on the program and its new regime with AllGators during the Under Armour Atlanta camp in late February.
"I'm just kind of interested in [UF]," Freeling said. "It's in Florida and they had a really good reputation [with] offensive lineman. I think with the new coach, they're going to turn the culture around."
Two days after this interview, Florida indeed came calling with a scholarship opportunity for the Oregon-native-turned-South Carolina product.
The 6-foot-7, 283-pound tackle has quickly emerged as one of the top offensive tackle prospects in the nation in the class of 2023, having added over 40 pounds to his frame in order to adequately play the position. A nationally coveted recruit dating back to early last year, Ohio State, LSU and Florida are among programs that have recently entered the mix for Freeling.
Wilkin Formby, Northridge (Ala.)
Formby is another southeastern region tackle who has been curious about the Gators, and much like Freeling's situation, a scholarship offer came Formby's way within days of expressing his interest in Florida to AllGators at Under Armour Atlanta in late February.
"I mean, it's a great program with great history and great fans. I'd like to go visit and check it out and stuff like that and get to see more," said Formby. "I know it's a great program and they got a young, new staff and stuff, so that'll be exciting."
A pattern among the tackles Florida has shown an interest in, Formby is a lengthy prospect who stands at 6-foot-7, 295 pounds. Alabama has made a strong push for Formby by hosting him on campus twice since the new year began, while Auburn, Ole Miss, USC, Oklahoma, Florida State and other top programs have been involved in his recruitment as well.
Formby plans to enroll early at his school of choice, therefore he'll complete his official visits over the summer and make a college decision not long after the fact.
Shamurad Umarov, Denmark (Ga.)
Umarov was coveted by Florida's previous staff after impressive coaches at a campus recruiting camp last summer, and it didn't take long for Napier and Co. to pursue his services after taking control of the program. Umarov was re-offered by UF in February, and now that the offer is in his back pocket, the Atlanta-area product is looking forward to visiting UF again in the near future to get to know the new staff.
"Coach Sale and then a couple more have been hitting me up. Overall, he's a great coach," Umarov told AllGators. "Getting to know the coach's personal side and then going over there to the campus and getting to know how he coaches, like, if I were able to go during the spring practices, I'd be able to see how he coaches. So, that would be a big thing for me to go over there because I really like him."
Umarov, 6-foot-6, 315 pounds, has added four SEC offers since the new year began in addition to Florida, from LSU, Auburn, Georgia and Kentucky.
Bryce Lovett, Rockledge (Fla.)
Lovett was one of the first 2023 offensive linemen to visit Florida since Napier took over as head coach, as Napier began his recruiting process with the new staff where UF's former staff left off immediately upon arrival. Napier offered Lovett a scholarship in the midst of his January visit.
"It was just great. It was like mid-conversation," Lovett told AllGators about his offer. "We were talking about, like, what they were going to do, about how the visit went, and he just came out and said I had a scholarship there.
"It meant a lot because they've been recruiting me for a while. The old coaching staff recruited me for a long time, and the new one’s been recruiting since they got there. So to finally just get that [offer] means a lot."
Some programs may view Lovett as a prospect built to play guard at 6-foot-5, 330 pounds without great arm length, but Sale explained during his visit that the Gators envision the Rockledge product as a tackle in their offense.
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