The Latest Buzz Around 4-Star Edge Rusher KJ Ford: Will Florida Win Out?

Ahead of his scheduled commitment date, the Florida Gators seem to be in a good position for Duncanville (Tx.) four-star edge rusher Kevin “KJ” Ford. 

Ford announced he will commit on July 11 with Florida, Texas A&M and Ohio State in his top three. The composite top-15 edge and top 120 player in the country is coming off an official visit with Ohio State on June 20, while he visited both other top options in the two weekends prior. 

Florida seems to be the leader for the blue-chip prospect, with multiple predictions coming in for the Gators, most recently from On3’s Blake Alderman on Thursday. He has also quickly become a must-get target with Florida’s edge board becoming somewhat depleted after five-star Trenton Henderson's commitment to LSU and four-star Jake Kreul dropping Florida from his top teams.

“They’re in an okay spot,” Ford told 247sports’ Tyler Harden . “(I’m) just trying to see everything.” 

The Gators' chances seemingly got a boost recently as well, with Texas A&M taking their fourth edge rusher commit in the class, five-star Bryce Perry-Wright. While not a guarantee, their class seems more than full, likely removing them from the competition. 

The other suitor, Ohio State, joined Ford’s recruitment relatively late, only offering the four-star in mid-march. Regardless, the Buckeyes’ interest appears to be serious, while the team only has one committed edge currently and Ford seemingly the last available on their board. 

“OSU has increased its offer to Ford, that happened earlier this week,” Ohio State writer Jeremy Birmingham reported July 3. “We’ll see if it’s enough to overcome the ‘but you were prioritizing other people, including my teammate, ahead of me until five days ago’ feeling.” 

After missing out on Henderson and seemingly Kreul, Florida will likely be more aggressive to secure Ford’s commitment as well. The Gators currently have just one edge rusher committed in 2026, five-star JaReylan McCoy, while Ford and Kreul look to be their two top targets remaining uncommitted.

While quickly approaching his announcement, Florida and Ohio State won’t be the only programs making strong final pushes either it seems. As of Thursday, On3 reports that Alabama, a program that had good momentum early on in Ford’s recruitment, could be making a last second effort for the Texas native. 

With the decision expected to come Friday, expect Ford’s recruitment efforts from multiple schools to continue until the very end. 

Ford is one of four targets set to announce their commitments in the coming days with four-star tight end Heze Kent, four-star linebacker DQ Forkpa and five-star tight end Kaiden Prothro all making their decisions public on Saturday.

Florida is considered the leaders for Kent and Forkpa, as well.

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

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