Florida lands commitment from four-star OT Caden Jones

SAN ANTONIO —  Caden Jones finally got the elephant off his chest.

In this case, the Gator.

Jones, the On3 Consensus’ No. 27-rated OT in the country out of New Orleans (La.) De La Salle, committed to Florida over Houston and Texas A&M on Saturday at the All-American Bowl in San Antonio. 

“When they were at UL they recruited me. Our bond is so special because we’ve been talking for a minute,” Jones told On3. “Juluke is a New Orleans guy. We have a lot in common that you can’t get with other people. If you go out-of-state, it makes for an easy transition to go out-of-state with Juluke in your corner. He’s from where I’m from, that’s a plus because it makes it 100 percent smoother.”

Juluke’s ties to New Orleans loomed large. As did Billy Napier’s offensive structure.

“De La Salle runs the ball a lot,” Jones noted. “A lot of times kids run a run-heavy offense and go to a pass-heavy offense in college, but all we do is the run the ball and making that transition to Florida would be easier on my part.”

Jones made the decision last month after continuing to extend his recruitment into the season. Now, the four-star tackle is relishing his moment.

“It’s a relief, it’s a major relief to choose this school on national TV, in front of all these people in a big stadium, in this type of atmosphere,” Jones said. “For so long this decision has been on my mind, going through colleges and getting it over is such a relief and blessing.”

Jones is the No. 436 overall player in the country per the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.