I'm going to do my best MHF impression with this post. Everybody is talking about how amazing the UF class is and I agree. They will have the #1 class in the country but let's not discredit our class. We all agree that the star ranking system is flawed.
UF has a lot of recruits who are ranked highly but a lot of UT's recruits are underrated. Let's compare.
WRs
UT: Ambles, Thompkins, Milton, Meline
UF: Clark, Patton, Dunbar, Dunkley
I love UT's WR class. We have size and speed. UF has only 1 WR recruit over 6'0 and none of them are as good as Ambles/Thompkins. Edge to UT.
DL
UT: John Brown, JC Copeland, Corey Miller, Calvin Smith, Jacques Smith, Brandon Willis
UF: Ball, Orr, Easley, Floyd, Powell, Trail
DL is the biggest strength in both team's classes. UF has some beasts committed in Orr/Easley/Floyd/Powell. However, UT's class is talented and deep as well. Copeland is VERY underrated and will end up being very difficult to block. If we can add Stripling or Lemonier and one more DT, we will be loaded. UF has more interior talent but we will have better DEs. Edge to UF but not by much.
OL
UT: Fulton, James, Pair, and in on several others
UF: Silberman
No doubt that UT has the edge here, mostly because of need. We should add Chaz Green and a couple others out of Stone/Coleman/Robinson/Kuandijo/Wilson. We should have the top OL class in the country. Definite edge to UT.
DBs
UT: A. Dixon, M. Dixon
UF: Haden, Shaw, Dorsey, Riggs, Watkins, Elam, Dowling
UF has a beast of a DB class. However, they will probably lose Dorsey to us or WVU. I don't see Riggs having much of an impact. We are not looking to take too many DBs but would make room for a guy like Dorsey.
Definite edge to UF but UT will fill needs solidly.
LBs
UT: Wilson, Taylor
UF: Ajagbe
UT will add one more quality LB to this class. C. Jones or Nelson would round out this area nicely. UF signed an abundance of LBs last year. Michael Taylor is extremely underrated and looks to play like one of the better LBs in this class. Edge to UT.
TE
UT: Delvin Jones
UF: McFarland, Christian
Not a strong class for either team but Jones has the potential to be a major mismatch. Christian is a solid pickup for UF and McFarland has good size. Edge to nobody.
FB/RB
UT: Fugate
UF: Van, Brown
UT is loaded at RB from last year and added a tremendously underrated FB that will be a great weapon. Van looks to be a burner and Brown is a good back but will he be used in the system?. Look for UT to land a 4star back to round out the class. Slight edge to UF, for now.
QB
UT: Bray, Simms
UF: Burton
Simms will provide depth and Bray is the QB of the future. Bray looks underrated and should be one of the best QBs out of this class. Definite edge to UT.
STs
UT: Palardy
UF: A host of guys who can return the ball.
Palardy will be a huge impact for UT. M. Dixon might be a good return man. UF has a bunch of guys who can return kicks but that's no different than years past. Edge to UT in kicking, UF in kick returns.
All in all, UF's class may have more starpower but UT's class will be loaded and will shore up both lines. We also have more room to add players. UF will have the #1 rated class but UTs class will have every bit as much talent and the benefit of NFL level coaching.
Let's do that, but without the absurd homer shades on. The numbers are the players' position ranking according to ESPN. If ESPN doesn't have a player listed at the position he'll play at the school, the ranking from Rivals or Scout is substituted (for example, both Elam for UF and M. Dixon for UT are listed as athletes by ESPN; so their ranking for their real positions were taken from Rivals or Scout):
WRs
UT: #7 Ambles, #30 Meline, #33 Milton, (JC) Thompkins,
UF: #2 Dunkley, #12 Patton, #43 Dunbar, Dowling may play WR at UF, but he's the #1 S. Clark isn't a WR; he's a CB/K-P/R.
Slight advantage Florida.
DL
UT: #6 Corey Miller, #9 Brandon Willis, #19 Calvin Smith, #29 Jacques Smith, #32 Copeland, (JC) John Brown (former UF player that didn't see PT in a single game).
UF: #2 Powell, #5 Orr, #5 Easley, #6 Floyd, #19 Ball, #60 Trail
This one is an epic mismatch.
Edge to Florida by a wide margin.
OL
UT: #7 James, #92 Pair, #91 Fulton
UF: #2 Silberman
Silberman almost makes this one equal all by himself.
Slight edge to UT for sheer numbers.
DBs
UT: #3 A. Dixon, #79 M. Dixon
UF: #1 Dowling, #1 Elam, #2 Dorsey, #3 Shaw, #7 Riggs, #5 Watkins, #44 Haden.
Another complete mismatch. UF may have assembled one of the finest DB classes ever.
Huge edge Florida.
LBs
UT: #12 Taylor, #84 Williams
UF: #23 Ajagbe
Advantage UT here... until Hicks announces anyway.
TE
UT: Delvin Jones Nobody is calling Jones a TE, so he has no ranking there. He's considered the #27 DE.
UF: #2 Christian, #12 McFarland,
Huge advantage for UF with 2 bona fide TE's, one of which is the second best in the nation according to ESPN AND Rivals... not to mention Powell, who caught a TD as a TE at the AA game.
FB/RB
UT: #40 Fugate
UF: #3 Brown, Van. Van has no ranking because he's a prep player, but is a 4* RB.
Huge edge to UF. We're not counting recruits from last year's class in an analysis for this class.
QB
UT: #6 Bray, JC Simms. no rating, but he's a 3* QB
UF: #18 Burton
Advantage UT, and boy do they need it.
STs
UT: #15 Palardy
UF: A host of guys who can return the ball.
Not much to see here. One team got a kicker, and the other got several guys who can return punts and kicks.
All in all, UF's class is far and away the much stronger class. With 15 of their 24 commitments on the ESPN150 list, it's currently #1. UT's class, with 7 of 23 commitments on the ESPN150 list, is very good, but not really in the same league. So, saying UT's class has every bit as much talent really isn't even remotely accurate; and we also have room to add more players. And UF players will benefit from NFL coaching as well, since our new DC was the longest tenured coach on the Dolphins staff, and our QB coach and RB coach also have NFL experience.
