Gators Make Top 10 for 4-Star Edge Rusher

The Florida Gators are officially among the leaders for one of the best defenders in the 2028 recruiting class.

Saraland (Ala.) four-star edge rusher Keoni Snipes on Wednesday listed Florida among his top-10 schools, which also includes Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas and Texas A&M. Snipes (6-5, 245 pounds) is ranked as the No. 66 overall recruit and No. 13 edge rusher in the 2028 class, according to ESPN.

NEW: 2028 4-star EDGE Keoni Snipes of Saraland (Ala.) has cut his list for the first time.

Key visits are approaching as he works through the process.

The latest: https://t.co/TvJOK91UvE pic.twitter.com/z5O67fTiHm
— ChadSimmons (@ChadSimmons_) September 30, 2026

While he does not have any predictions, Rivals' Recruiting Prediction Machine gives the Gators a slite edge over Oklahoma. He visited Florida twice last offseason and recently visited Auburn during the Gators' 44-39 win in Week Three. He also visited LSU for its matchup against Texas A&M last week and is set to visit Texas on Oct. 24 and Oklahoma on Oct. 31.

It is no secret why Snipes has garnered significant attention from major programs. As a sophomore, he recorded 30 tackles, including seven for loss, with 3.5 sacks. He is already close to matching his tackle total and has already surpassed his sack total in less than half of the time as a junior, recording 22 total tackles, including 12 for loss, with 4.5 sacks in just five games.

Great Team win Last night! I’m proud of the bounce back after a tough loss, let’s keep it going boys! 💯

Week 3 Highlights: https://t.co/OsEfiCHa2p @tjkelly17 @GoSaraland @jonhersel @CoachLanier34 @S_Mosley8 @HallTechSports1 @BrettGreenberg_@CoachSmook @TDARecruiting… pic.twitter.com/aoH0FsqWBv
— Keoni “Peek-A-Boo“ Snipes 4⭐️ EDGE (@_thatkidky_) September 12, 2026

Albeit over a year away from the 2028 cycle signing with their choice for college, Florida has had plenty of success in the class.

The Gators recently added commitments from Blountstown (Fla.) four-star safety Cyion Smith and Huntsville (Ala.) Mae Jemison four-star offensive tackle Samuel Bailey in the last week, giving Florida a three-commit class. Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade-Madonna four-star wide receiver Armani Strong committed to the Gators over the summer.

The Gators also currently hold predictions to land various recruits in the class, such as Sarasota (Fla.) four-star quarterback Hudson West, Venice (Fla.) four-star wide receiver Tyree Mannings Jr., Tampa (Fla.) Carrollwood Day's four-star wide receiver Derrell Hines Jr. and four-star edge Antonio Thomas Jr., Lakeland (Fla.) four-star cornerback Dominick Harris-Payne, Tallahassee (Fla.) Florida State University School four-star corner Izayah Vickers and four-star wide receiver Bubba Brown and Vero Beach (Fla.) three-star defensive tackle Josiah Taylor.

Last week, Florida hosted over 70 prospects across the 2027, 2028 and 2029 recruiting classes, with head coach Jon Sumrall saying after the win over Ole Miss how players from those classes can help turn the program around in the long-term.

“We had some recruits here this weekend. I mean, a recruiting list that we get a lot of those guys to say yes, we're going to wake the beast up real fast,” he said.

“We're going to wake it up with the guys we've got. I love the guys we've got. But we still have to reinforce our roster, the depth of our roster to look like maybe the top, top, top teams in the country. We still aren't, maybe just depth, where we can roll out the next guy and it's like there's very little drop-off.”

Gators' 2028 recruiting class currently ranks fourth nationally and third in the SEC in the Rivals Industry Composite and fifth nationally in the 247 Sports Composite.

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