Florida football will see a familiar name in the transfer portal as a Ex. Gator looks for his third school.
Numbers don’t lie in Florida football.
Jesiah was a three-star prospect in the 2019 draft, ranking as the 49th-best outside linebacker in that class. Pierre had little play and made eight tackles in his lone season with the Gators as a true freshman. However, when he headed west to Lubbock, he played to his full potential and impressed in the Big 12.
He has 133 tackles, five sacks, a forced fumble, and a pass deflection over the last three seasons.He’s not a guy many running backs want to see in the gap at 6’2”-240, but he has the range to be reliable in a shallow zone.It’s probably worth checking in on Jesiah for the Gators. He was in Gainesville while Dan Mullen was the coach, so he could return with a new staff.
It’s difficult to say no to 100+ career tackles, especially for a defense that has a lot of holes to fill following a poor second half of the season.We’ll learn more about Florida’s interest in Pierre in the coming days, but he’s a name to keep an eye on in the Gators’ portal.
Oregon defensive back in the transfer portal pays a visit to the Gators, This is the season for the transfer portal, and Florida football had a couple of targets on campus this weekend. The Gators welcomed an Oregon defensive back to campus, looking to improve on a poor team from the 2023 season.
Football in Florida: A long flight east
Trikweze Bridges is a 6’3″ cornerback for the Oregon Ducks who averaged roughly 20 snaps per game this season. Bridges is the epitome of an older citizen. He originally enrolled at Oregon as a member of the 2019 class. At the time, he was regarded as a mid-tier three-star prospect. He redshirted in 2019, got little action in 2020, and broke into the starting lineup in 2021.
Bridges played extensively during the 2022 season and had a strong year. Last season, he played 704 snaps, 431 in pass coverage, was targeted 50 times, and allowed 30 receptions.Bridges ranked 24th out of 94 cornerbacks who played at least 400 snaps in 2022 in terms of receptions allowed.
Bridges’ playing time was reduced this year, and he chose to spend his bonus Covid year to investigate the transfer portal.He was on campus this weekend as part of a group of guys Billy Napier is attempting to recruit to Florida. While no defensive backs coach has been formally confirmed for Florida football, Los Angeles Chargers assistant defensive back coach Will Harris is reported to be the man headed to Gainesville.
According to 247 Sports, Bridges is the 7th best cornerback in the USA now on the transfer market. Florida presently has the best odds to land Bridges for their program. If the Gators can bring back the Bridges we saw in 2022, they will have a solid cornerback with years of experience who can perhaps shore up some of the weaknesses we saw this season.