Florida Spotlight: Sunshine State's top undecided prospects
The start of the Early Signing Period is less than a month away, and a good portion of the country’s most coveted prospects will be off the board when it arrives. Today, we focus on the Sunshine State and examine five Florida-based recruits to watch as they prepare to sign letters of intent.
TOP UNDECIDED PLAYERS: Midwest | Southeast
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Sanders’ family ties to Florida have been written about for what seems like years. His older brother attends the school and the five-star running back is incredibly familiar with the Gainesville campus. The fact that Dan Mullen has started to turn the struggling Gators around in less than one full season is also encouraging for UF.
Still, besting Alabama on the recruiting trail is not much easier than beating the Tide on the field and such is UF’s task here. Sanders recently visited Florida State, but he’s unlikely to choose FSU. Sanders was committed to Alabama as a young prospect and that commitment lasted more than a year before he backed off the pledge prior to his senior season. He has an upcoming official visit to Tuscaloosa, which many think will help Nick Saban seal the deal.
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CONTENDERS: Alabama, Florida State, Miami
Neal was legitimately impressed by a recent visit to Florida State that gave the Seminoles a dose of life when it comes to the five-star’s recruitment. That said, Alabama remains the team beat. Miami is also in the mix and has been for some time, but the interest between Neal and the Hurricanes doesn’t seem to be as incredibly strong as it once was. The massive offensive tackle was once an Alabama commit but re-opened his recruitment prior to the season. Neal will visit Alabama alongside his five-star teammate Trey Sanders this weekend and it’s easy to imagine a situation in which the two become a package deal of sorts.
Neal doesn’t say much of interest about his recruitment during interviews, so the potential for a shocker certainly exists here. And both Florida State and Miami could be the beneficiary of such an event.
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CONTENDERS: Auburn, Georgia, Miami
Auburn remains in the mix to some extent because the Tigers recently hosted the four-star defensive back for an official visit, but this battle is really between Miami and Georgia. Both Stevenson and his mother have waffled between the two programs in recent months and where the touted athlete lands is still anyone’s guess.
UGA seemed to have a massive edge this summer, when Stevenson skipped Miami’s elite recruiting event to visit Athens. The Hurricanes have closed that gap since, however, and even went as far as to host a preseason practice at Stevenson’s high school. The Rivals100 defensive back’s mother will have a say in how the rest of this recruitment unfolds, so a twist is possible. That said, the smart money remains on the Bulldogs.
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CONTENDERS: Auburn, Penn State, Texas
Cain seemed like a lock to LSU until Rivals100 running back John Emery flipped his commitment from Georgia to LSU earlier this month. Things opened from there. Originally from Louisiana, Cain lived in Texas before transferring to Florida’s IMG Academy and has long been comfortable with the UT coaching staff. Tom Herman has to love where his program sits with the IMG star.
Auburn is a serious player here and has a running back need in its 2019 class. The Tigers are chasing the Longhorns, however.
Penn State should also not be ignored here, as Cain’s parents loved their visit to the school’s campus early this season. Texas is the expected pick, but the Tigers and Nittany Lion have not, by any means, been eliminated.
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CONTENDERS: Auburn, Clemson, Florida State
Putnam will likely announce his choice before the Early Signing Period and make things official when the window opens. The target date seems to be early December. The race to land the four-star lineman’s pledge is just as simple. The Tampa (Fla.) Plant product has taken official visits to Clemson, Florida State and Auburn and will commit to one of those three programs.
Putnam’s final official visit was to Clemson, after which he told TigerIllustrated.com that having the final visit certainly could work in Dabo Swinney’s favor “I’m still heavy on Clemson, still really heavy on Auburn, still really heavy on Florida State,” he said. “I knew I wanted to stay neutral coming off the official visit because I’ve only been there once, and every time you come off an official visit, you’re like, I love that place. So I need to take a week to let it settle.”
Florida State was long thought to be the favorite to land Putnam and while that may or may not remain the case, Clemson and Auburn have made moves here. All three are legit threats.