SEC Recruiting Grades After National Signing Day: Alabama, Tennessee on Top

Dec 6, 2014; Gainesville, FL, USA; Florida Gators head coach Jim McElwain is introduced as head coach during a press conference at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

10. Florida Gators

Rivals Class Rank: No. 23

You know you’r conference is a bloodbath when having a Top 25 recruiting class may not even put you in the Top 10 in your conference. This is a very tricky class to analyze.

On one hand, the Florida Gators are fortunate to have a Top 25 recruiting class for Jim McElwain’s first year given how the recruiting was going and what he inherited. Every first year coach’s recruiting class is a mulligan.

But on the other hand, we still have to take this recruiting class for what it is, and the last-minute efforts of McElwain to bring in Martez Ivey and CeCe Jefferson, while amazing, may not be exactly what helps out the most.

Most of Florida’s class involved defensive players or physical positions on the offensive side of the ball, either offensive line or tight end. Unfortunately, that is not what Florida needed. Will Muschamp left the cupboard empty on quarterbacks and skill players.

This is Florida, where speed has traditionally dominated everything else. McElwain’s class did not necessarily fix that issue. Still, his pickups will be valuable in the future, and they do provide some serious depth, so this class can’t be chalked up as a waste.

But it could have been better if it went in a different direction.

Grade: B-

Next: No. 9 Ranked SEC Recruiting Class