TWO BITS: Florida grades, Gators recruiting

1 » The folks over at Pro Football Focus chose to evaluate the Florida Gators vs. No. 3 Alabama Crimson Tide contest on Saturday as their College Game of the Week. As such, PFF described the Gators’ performance as “simply a putrid defensive effort that saw Florida miss 30 tackles.” Three different UF players – redshirt senior linebacker Michael Taylor, senior safety Jabari Gorman and redshirt sophomore defensive back Brian Poole missed four tackles each, while junior DB Marcus Maye was “the only Florida starter not charged with an official missed tackle.”

Gorman and junior LB Antonio Morrison – due to their pass coverage and run defense, respectively – graded out as the worst of the Gators’ defenders on Saturday, rated lower than any offensive player. Redshirt senior tackle Chaz Green and redshirt junior quarterback Jeff Driskel were given the lowest grades on the offensive side of the ball for their pass blocking and passing, respectively. All-in-all, it was a terrible day for Florida football, and PFF‘s detailed statistics break it down quite nicely.

2 » According to Jeremy Crabtree of ESPN Insider ($), an unnamed “recruiter” in the Southeastern Conference told him the “sharks [are] already starting to circle” around UF’s 2015 football commitments. The Gators currently have only 11 players committed and are listed at No. 40 in Rivals.com‘s team rankings, well back of their normal top-15 ranking. It has been known for quite some time that a number of top-rated recruits were waiting to see Florida’s success – or lack thereof – this season before making a final decision, but this is the first rumbling of UF’s current class being at risk. Of course, plenty will change if the Gators start winning football games, and Florida has plenty of time to swing the momentum around. It is interesting, however, that one of the Gators’ highest-rated commitments, four-star linebacker Adonis Thomas (Lawrenceville, GA) appears to already be looking around. “Decisions to be made,” he tweeted early Sunday.