Florida makes massive jump in team rankings after landing elite WR Vernell Brown III

After consecutive years of top-15 recruiting classes for Florida, the Gators have struggled through most of the 2025 recruiting cycle to secure elite prospects.

Coming into the weekend, Billy Napier and Co. ranked No. 53 nationally and No. 15 in the SEC — only ahead of Vanderbilt — in the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Rankings. The Gators have landed a number of quality commitments, but held only 9 in total.

They upped their quantity on Sunday by one and added one of the nation’s top uncommitted prospects in four-star wide receiver Vernell Brown III. His addition also moved UF up a whopping 22 spots in the team rankings to No. 31 nationally and No. 12 in the SEC.

Brown, a UF legacy and the son of Vernell Brown, ranks No. 33 nationally and is the nation’s No. 6 WR, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

“The program on the field is great and off the field, I can set myself up for life there,” Brown III told On3’s Chad Simmons. “The outside factor that the other schools couldn’t match was me being from Gainesville and growing up around there and then, having an opportunity to build on my family’s legacy while creating my own path as well.” 

Brown gets the Gators to double-digit commitments

With him in the fold, Florida now sits with an even 10 commitments.

Four-star Tampa (Fla.) Plant running back Waltez Clark was the first to put his name on the commit list back in September 2023. The Gators’ top defensive commit, Tallahassee (Fla.) James Rickards four-star defensive lineman Jalen Wiggins, joined up in January, choosing UF over Florida State, Georgia, UCF and others.

The spring was quiet, with no commitments between January and early May. But Napier and his staff got an early summer boost by landing three-star defensive lineman Jeramiah McCloud and Texas-based running back Chad Gasper.

A month later in June they added four-star pass-catchers Joshua Moore and Tae’shaun Gelsey — both On300 prospects — as well as punter Hayden Craig.

And Brown now becomes the second pledge in July, joining three-star linebacker Myles Johnson, a former Alabama commit.