Thirty six players who played their high school football inside the state of Florida were invited this year.
QB: 1 -- Geno Smith
RB: 9 -- Gio Bernard, Tommy Bohanon, Mike Gillislee, Montel Harris, Mike James, Jawan Jamison, Onterio McCalebb, Lonnie Pryor, and Chris Thompson
WR: 6 -- Stedman Bailey, Denard Robinson, Ace Sanders, Rodney Smith, Kembrell Thompkins, and Connor Vernon
TE: 1 -- D.C. Jefferson
OL: 1 -- Stephane Milhim
DL: 4 -- Brandon Jenkins, Corey Lemonier, Akeem Spence, and Tourek Williams
LB: 4 -- Sam Barrington, Jon Bostic, Lerentee McCray, and Etienne Sabino
DB: 9 -- Jonathan Cyprien, Matt Elam, Josh Johnson, Brandon McGee, Zeke Motta, Xavier Rhodes, Nickell Robey, Jawanza Starling, and Kayvon Webster
PK: 1 -- Caleb Sturgis
Analysis: The numbers fall in line to a typical year in Florida. Percentage-wise compared to other positions, this state rarely produces top flight NFL quarterback prospects. The skilled-positions are always loaded (RB, WR, and DB). And the number of offensive linemen is always low -- but one (and a kid who didn't even sign a Division 1 scholarship) is extremely low.
BY AREA:
Panhandle: 3 (Jenkins, Thompson, and Starling)
Jacksonville: 5 (Harris, Jamison, Spence, Barrington, and Sturgis)
Gainesville/Ocala: 1 (McCray)
Tampa: 1 (Johnson)
Bradenton/Sarasota: 1 (Sanders)
Polk: 4 (James, McCalebb, Jefferson, and Robey)
Central Florida: 1 (Gillislee)
Treasure Coast: 2 (Pryor and Motta)
SWFL: 1 (Bohanon)
Palm Beach: 2 (Bostic and Elam)
Broward: 5 (Smith, Bailey, Bernard, Robinson, and Milhim)
Dade: 9 (Smith, Thompkins, Vernon, Lemonier, Williams, Sabino, Cyprien, Webster, and Rhodes)
Analysis: Amazingly, there wasn't a single kid from Tampa or Orlando invited. The two from those areas (Johnson and Gillislee) were from Dade City and Deland, respectively. Polk continues to produce way more than it ever gets credit for. It continues to be one of the most underrated and under-recruited areas in the entire country. As always, Miami-Dade dominates.
THE SLEEPERS:
Harris -- The Florida schools wanted teammate Jamie Harper more and never offered. Boston College benefited.
Jamison -- The Florida schools passed so he went to star at Rutgers
Sanders -- The in-state schools thought he was too small. South Carolina didn't.
Johnson -- The Florida schools passed so he went to star at Purdue
Jefferson -- Got some early looks but wanted to play QB. He went to star at Rutgers as a TE.
Bohannon -- The only in-state school that recruited him was UCF
Thompkins -- Under the radar and went to Cincinnati
Vernon -- Record setting receiver at Duke was ignored by the Florida schools
Milhim -- Not a single Division 1 offer; went to UMass-Amherst
Williams -- Lightly recruited player from Norland who went to FIU
Cyprien -- North Miami Beach DB who went to FIU.
BY COLLEGE:
Florida State 5
Florida 4
Miami, USF, FIU, USC, Rutgers, Auburn, and West Virginia 2