Florida adds pair of three-star commits to slow-moving 2019 recruiting class

Football

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Image Credit: @UFGatorBand / Twitter

Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen added two new verbal commitments to his first complete recruiting class over the last two weeks with three-stars offensive lineman Riley Simonds (Buford, GA) and linebacker Jesiah Pierre (Mount Dora, FL) announcing their intent to play for the program in 2019.

Simmons (6-foot-4, 324 pounds) chose Florida primarily over Virginia Tech and Missouri. Pierce (6-foot-2, 220 pounds), a former Miami pledge, announced a new commitment date last week and picked UF on Sunday over UM, North Carolina, Ole Miss and ECU.

The Gators now have 11 players committed for 2019, but with only a quartet of four-star prospects aboard and none of those players ranked among the top 200 recruits in the nation, the program sits 29th nationally in the 247Sports Composite team rankings.

The only three schools in the top 30 of the rankings that have 11 or fewer pledges at this time are Georgia (No. 13), Texas (No. 16) and Penn State (No. 20). The difference? The Bulldogs have three five-stars and seven four-stars (no three-stars), while the the Longhorns and Nittany Lions each have one five-star and seven four-stars.

Florida is currently ranked 10th among their SEC foes as well as behind rivals Florida State (No. 10) and Miami (No. 15). The only truly notable team ranked behind UF at this time is USC (No. 49), which only has eight commitments.

The Gators remain in strong contention for four of the top 150 players in the nation and a finalist for 21 more of those prospects; still, it will take a strong recruiting effort — and likely an equally strong performance during the 2018 season — to sway many of those names to Gainesville, Florida.