Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun

Florida Gators dealt another major blow in recruiting thanks to SEC rival and it's becoming a concerning trend

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Tyler Forness | Last updated Jul 10, 2025 5:24 PM ET

The Florida Gators have been doing a really good job on the recruiting front with 16 commits to the program for the 2026 class. The one area that has been up and down has been on the defensive line.

RIght now, the Gators have two commits in four-star Kendall Guervil and four-star JaReylan McCoy. The next player they expected to land was four-star KJ Ford after receiving expert predictions on the Fourth of July . That changed on Thursday just six days later, as Ford now has expert predictions to commit to the Alabama Crimson Tide. This is becoming a concerning trend for head coach Billy Napier.

Rivals’ @SWiltfong_ and @samspiegs have logged expert predictions for Alabama to land 4-star EDGE KJ Ford

Intel: https://t.co/nYpBHiMwfL pic.twitter.com/dOxIjb1EuS
— Rivals (@Rivals) July 10, 2025

Florida Gators could lose out on another top DL recruit

This would be a brutal blow for the Gators, who have been consistently losing on top prospects on the defensive line to multiple in-conference rivals. Georgia and Texas have both taken top Gators targets on the defensive line this summer, and Ohio state just flipped rising three-star Jamir Perez on the Fourth of July.

What makes this extra frustrating is what On3 Sports' Steve Wiltfong wrote about Ford just 40 minutes before the tweet that he was placing an expert prediction to Alabama.

The Gators appeared to move into pole position for Duncanville (Texas) High four-star edge KJ Ford.

But Alabama lurks and the Crimson Tide cannot be discounted down the stretch. In fact they’re gaining momentum.

Ford did speak highly of UF at the Rivals Five-Star Challenge.

“Family aspect. coaching staff thats been there. just being able to try and see myself there. The position flexibility. having position flexibility there.”

No mention of placing an expert prediction on him, just that Alabama was gaining momentum.

Not all hope is lost here, as both Gators Online's Corey Bender and Blake Alderman still have their expert predictions logged for the Gators and they still sit at 39.3% when it comes to the On3 Sports Recruiting Prediction Machine.

News could come on Friday, as Ford tweeted about a big surprise.