Florida Football lands elite playmaker, Alabama, Texas A&M add to 2022

We are still in the midst of the 2022 recruiting class but on Thursday, Florida football landed an elite playmaker in 2023. 

Alabama notched one recruiting win on Tuesday with the addition of three-star wideout Kobe Prentice, but there was also some disappointment for the Crimson Tide as elite 2023 tight end Mac Markway pledged to Florida football.

Markway is out of St. Louis, Missouri and he’s ranked 93rd overall in the 2023 recruiting class according to the 247 sports composite rankings. The 6-foot-4, 250-pounder who is ranked as the fourth-best tight end nationally, is joining a Florida football program known for solid tight ends, especially after the season Kyle Pitts put together in 2020.

Markway had 30 offers but the 2023 recruit narrowed his list down and the other finalists were Notre Dame, Alabama, LSU, and Ohio State.

It’s always nice beating out those schools for a kid and it’s a nice recruiting win for the Gators, who were on the wrong side of things Monday as elite 2022 linebacker, Shawn Murphy, a five-star according to Rivals, committed to Alabama football, not Florida.

Murphy was a top priority but the Gators have some other options at linebacker, even if it means flipping a prospect committed somewhere else.

Alabama moves up to No. 3 in composite rankings

Thanks to the additions of Murphy and Prentice, an in-state receiver ranked 558th overall in the 2022 composite rankings, Alabama football has moved ahead of Notre Dame and is now sitting third overall in 2022 according to the 247 team rankings.

Murphy is the ninth four-star commitment for Alabama, which also has two five-stars in its class, which is enough to move ahead of Notre Dame, which has 13 four-star recruits but none of the five-star variety.

Alabama has 13 commitments total in 2022, whereas Penn State has 22. So the more that Bama adds to its class, the more it should move even closer to the No. 1 spot occupied by Ohio State, which leads Bama by 32.92 points but has four more commitments right now.

Texas A&M also adds to 2022 class

Also on Monday, another SEC football program got a win on the recruiting trail and it was probably needed for the Aggies, who are dealing with this whole Texas to the SEC thing right now.

At any rate, A&M picked up three-star defensive end Jadon Scarlett — a high-ranking three-star prospect out of Argyle, Texas. Oklahoma and Missouri were also finalists for Scarlett, a 6-foot-2, a 265-pond defensive lineman with 25 sacks the past two years in high school.

Scarlett may not be ranked as highly as some of the other commitments in the Aggie’s 2022 class which is 11th right now, but he’s been a long-time target for a reason, and landing top players from the state of Texas is always going to be a priority.