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Gators Miss Out on Top-Five DL Prospect, Commits to SEC Rival

Originally posted on Florida Gators on SI
By Kyle Lander | Last updated Jun 28, 2025 3:37 PM ET

The Florida Gators miss out on a top recruit to a rival program. Northwestern (Fla.) four-star defensive lineman James Johnson committed to the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday over the likes of Texas, Florida and Miami, On3’s Hayes Fawcett announced on X.

BREAKING: Elite 2026 DL James “JJ” Johnson has Committed to Georgia, he tells me for @on3recruits

The 6’3 285 DL from Fort Myers, FL chose the Bulldogs over Texas, Florida, & Miami

He’s ranked as the No. 1 DL in 2026 (per On3)

“Go Dawgs”https://t.co/VeNJnkq7iH pic.twitter.com/CLvVbAYTTl
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) June 28, 2025

Johnson is rated as the No. 20 overall prospect from Florida and No. 4 defensive lineman in the class of 2026, according to Rivals.

Defensive line recruiting has been a noticeable blemish on the Gators' recruiting resume this cycle. They missed on Birmingham (Ala.) four-star Vodney Cleveland earlier this month and are currently trailing Texas in Fort Myers (Fla.) four-star defensive lineman Kendall Guervil’s recruitment.

There is one defensive lineman prospect they are currently in the running for and that is Blue Ridge School (Va.) four-star Valdin Sone. However, they are also competing with Georgia for Sone.

Despite missing out on Johnson, the Gators have still had a strong June on the recruiting trail. They’ve landed 12 commitments this month, which has propelled them up to No. 15 in On3’s 2026 Industry Ranking Football Team Recruiting Ranking.

Of these 12 new commits, four are tabbed as top-200 prospects. Those three are Windermere (Fla.) four-star cornerback CJ Bronaugh (No. 106), Booker T. Washington (Ala.) four-star wide receiver Marquez Daniel (No. 162), Tupelo (Miss.) four-star defensive lineman JaReylan McCoy (No. 163) and Buchholz (Fla.) four-star wide receiver Justin Williams (No. 192).

Florida is also still in favorable spots with other top recruits as well. They have received predictions for Pensacola Catholic (Fla.) five-star edge Trenton Henderson, Lakeland (Fla.) four-star linebacker Malik Morris, Brunswick (Ga.) four-star athlete Heze Kent and Cocoa (Fla.) four-star defensive back CJ Hester.

Florida Gators on SI is tracking all of the Gators' major recruiting news, from commits to prospects of note to the official visit schedule, on our 2026 Recruiting Tracker.