State of Florida recruiting: Reviewing the hits, misses and hidden gems from the 2015 cycle

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Lamar Jackson is arguably the best football player to come out of the state of Florida.

He was definitely underrated, a former three-star recruit from Boynton Beach High School who was ranked No. 398 overall and No. 58 in the state in the 2015 recruiting cycle. Jackson went on to win the Heisman Trophy at Louisville and two NFL MVP awards with the Baltimore Ravens.

The 2015 recruiting class in the Sunshine State was one of the most decorated in recent memory, featuring nine five-star recruits and eight others who ranked in the top 100 nationally.

So, how did the class — other than Jackson — turn out? Not great, to be honest.

We’ll dive into the hidden gems later but will start by taking a look at the top 10 players in the state according to the 247Sports Composite. Spoiler alert: Only four of the nine five-star recruits became NFL Draft picks.

Top 10 recruits

1. Martez Ivey, OT, Apopka → Florida 

The 6-foot-6, 335-pound offensive tackle and No. 2 national prospect was named the U.S. Army Player of the Year after leading Apopka to its second state championship in three years. Ivey, though, never developed into a superstar despite starting 44 games with the Florida Gators and earning second-team All-SEC honors in 2017 and 2018. He went undrafted and ended up in the Canadian Football League. He’s played in 33 games over the last two seasons with the Edmonton Elks.

2. Byron Cowart, edge, Seffner Armwood → Auburn → Maryland 

ESPN and Rivals ranked Cowart the No. 1 player in the class. He appeared in 26 games in three seasons at Auburn without making a start or recording a sack. Cowart transferred to Maryland for the 2018 season and started 12 games, producing 37 tackles, including five TFLs. He was selected by the Patriots in the fifth round of the 2019 draft. He started 14 games in 2020 for New England and has since played for the Colts, Chiefs, Texans, Dolphins and Bears. He signed a one-year, $1.3 million deal with the Jets in the offseason.

3. Derwin James, S, Haines City → Florida State

James, ranked No. 5 nationally, earned first-team All-America honors in 2017 and spent only three seasons in Tallahassee before making the jump to the NFL, where he was drafted 17th overall in 2018 by the Chargers. He has made two All-Pro teams and four Pro Bowl squads, including last season when he had 93 tackles, 10 for loss and 5.5 sacks. James has two years left on a four-year, $76 million deal.

4. CeCe Jefferson, edge, Baker County → Florida

Tabbed the seventh-best recruit in the 2015 cycle, Jefferson was productive at Florida but never quite lived up to the hype, producing 124 tackles, 34.5 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks in his four seasons with the Gators. Jefferson went undrafted in 2019 and signed with the Tampa Vipers of the XFL in 2020. He hasn’t played since.

5. Kevin Toliver II, CB, Jacksonville Trinity → LSU

The No. 9-ranked recruit in the class started eight games as a freshman in Baton Rouge but never really took the next step. He started 18 games total in three seasons at LSU and then skipped his senior season to enter the draft. Toliver went undrafted, played two years with the Bears (two career starts) and then appeared in two games in 2020 with the Broncos before becoming a practice squad player with the Ravens and Colts. He ended up in the XFL with the Houston Roughnecks and San Antonio Brahmas. He’s been out of football for 14 months.

6. Calvin Ridley, WR, Coconut Creek Monarch → Alabama 

The South Florida native lived up to the five-star hype in Tuscaloosa, earning Freshman All-America honors, making three All-SEC teams, winning two national championships and catching 224 passes for 2,781 yards and 19 touchdowns in 44 games. He was the 26th pick in the 2018 draft by the Falcons and has 388 career catches for 5,375 yards and 40 touchdowns in 66 NFL starts. He signed a four-year, $92 million deal with the Titans in March 2024.

Calvin Ridley caught 224 passes in three years at Alabama. (Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)

7. Tarvarus McFadden, CB, Plantation American Heritage → Florida State 

The five-star from South Florida became a full-time starter as a sophomore in Tallahassee and earned first-team All-America honors when he led FSU with eight interceptions in 2016. He started all 13 games in 2017 and earned second-team All-ACC honors before entering the draft with a year of eligibility remaining. After running a 4.67 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine, McFadden went undrafted. He bounced around practice squads with the 49ers, Colts and Lions for two years before he caught on in the Canadian Football League in 2022 and has been a starter on two Grey Cup championship teams with the Toronto Argonauts.

8. Deon Cain, WR, Tampa Bay Tech → Clemson 

Cain played quarterback in high school but was recruited as a receiver by Dabo Swinney. The five-star recruit helped lead Clemson to the 2017 national championship as a junior before he skipped his senior season and was selected by the Colts in the sixth round of the 2018 draft. Cain appeared in 14 NFL games with the Colts and Steelers over the next three years. He has since enjoyed success in the United Football League with the Birmingham Stallions. He caught three touchdown passes in the 2023 championship game to earn MVP honors. He re-signed with the Stallions in February after spending the 2024 season on the Buffalo Bills practice squad.

9. George Campbell, WR, East Lake → Florida State → West Virginia

The five-star target spent four seasons in Tallahassee but barely made an impact, catching 13 passes for 206 yards and no touchdowns in 19 games. He transferred to West Virginia in 2019 and caught 19 passes for 469 yards and seven touchdowns before going undrafted and being signed by the New York Jets in 2020. He’s bounced around the CFL and UFL since but has not been on a pro roster since January 2024.

10. Jacques Patrick, RB, Timber Creek → Florida State

The talented four-star back and top-40 recruit had the misfortune of sharing the backfield in Tallahassee with Dalvin Cook and Cam Akers. In four seasons with the Seminoles, he totaled 1,790 yards and 17 touchdowns before going undrafted in 2019. Patrick has since bounced around with the Bengals, 49ers, Panthers, Ravens, Broncos, Titans and Jets but hasn’t made it off the practice squad. He was waived by the Jets in May 2024 and hasn’t been on a roster since.

The hits and hidden gems

Jackson, James and Ridley aren’t the only NFL success stories from the state of Florida’s 2015 recruiting cycle.

Ray-Ray McCloud, a top-100 recruit from Tampa, was a standout at Clemson and a sixth-round pick by the Bills in the 2018 draft. He made 13 starts for the Atlanta Falcons in 2024 and had 62 catches for 686 yards and one touchdown.

Safety Ronnie Harrison, a four-star recruit from Tallahassee who starred at Alabama, was drafted in the third round in 2018 by the Jaguars and has started 48 games with the Browns and Colts in his seven-year career.

Cornerbacks Carlton Davis (Miami Norland to Auburn) and Jamel Dean (Cocoa High to Ohio State) won Super Bowl LV as teammates with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and have been starters throughout most of their respective careers.

McCloud, Harrison, Davis and Dean were among 51 blue-chip recruits in the state in the 2015 cycle.

Here’s a short list of non-blue chippers who made it to the NFL:

Geron Christian, OL, Ocala Trinity Catholic → Louisville

The 6-5, 302-pound interior offensive lineman is an NFL free agent at the moment, but he was a third-round pick of Washington in 2018 after starting for three seasons in the ACC. He’s won a Super Bowl and started 25 games in the NFL for the Commanders, Texans, Chiefs, Dolphins, Browns and Rams. Not bad for the No. 903 overall player in the cycle.

Sam Franklin, OLB, Citrus → Temple

Franklin, the No. 1,013 recruit in the class, spent four years at Temple after a year of prep school to improve his grades. He was signed by Carolina as an undrafted free agent in 2020. He’s spent the last five seasons with the Panthers, appearing in 74 games, starting nine and producing 84 tackles. He’s a free agent.

Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, WR, Lake Mary → Indiana 

The talented receiver spent five years in Bloomington and produced 144 catches for 2,226 yards and 16 touchdowns before entering the NFL in 2020 as an undrafted free agent with the Tennessee Titans. He started 39 games in his five-year career in Nashville, totaling 126 catches for 1,773 yards and 19 TDs. He signed a two-year, $3.2 million contract with the Dolphins in March.

Fred Johnson, OT, Royal Palm Beach → Florida 

The former three-star recruit started 32 games for the Gators before going undrafted in 2019. He’s played for the Steelers, Bengals, Buccaneers and Eagles (winning a Super Bowl in February). He signed a one-year, $1.33 million deal with the Jaguars in March.

Justin Strnad, OLB, East Lake → Wake Forest 

Strnad, ranked No. 1,548 in the cycle, spent five years at Wake Forest and was a fifth-round pick of the Broncos in the 2020 draft. He started eight games last season and signed a one-year extension for $2.7 million in March.

Tommy Townsend, P, Boone → Tennessee → Florida 

A two-time semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award at Florida, Townsend won two Super Bowls in Kansas City as an undrafted free agent. He signed a two-year, $6 million contract with the Texans in 2024.

Azeez Al-Shaair, OLB, Hillsborough →  FAU 

Al-Shaair, ranked No. 2,021 in the cycle, was an instant hit in Boca Raton, earning Freshman All-American honors and leading Conference USA in tackles as a junior in 2017. He went undrafted in 2019 but has been a full-time starter for the last four seasons, including last season with the Texans. He’s gained a reputation for being a big hitter, most notably for a crushing blow to Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence last December that led to a three-game suspension.

(Top photo of Lamar Jackson: Michael Hickey / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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