Why Florida dropped in ESPN's team recruiting rankings

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Florida football dropped one spot to No. 8 in the 2027 ESPN team recruiting rankings on Thursday.

The movement is a result of Miami landing No. 25 overall recruit and top-ranked athlete A'Mir Sears. The Hurricanes jumped three spots from No. 8 to No. 5, pushing the Gators, Oklahoma Sooners (No. 6) and Ohio State Buckeyes (No. 7) down one spot each.

Almost every other team in the top 10 stayed put, with Texas A&M and Notre Dame at the top of the list. Oregon and Texas flipped spots to Nos. 3 and 4, respectively, while Auburn and Texas Tech held steady at Nos. 9 and 10.

There isn't a ton of room for further movement over the next few months. All but four of the recruits ranked on the ESPN 300 are committed. Florida only has an offer to one of them: four-star running back Caden Waye out of Ola High School in McDonough, Georgia.

Waye included Florida in his top 12 back in December, but interest in him has dropped for several national programs. His only official visit of the summer was to UCF, and his list now includes Texas State, UTEP, Louisiana Tech and Missouri State.

He may no longer be a take for the Gators with four-star running back Andrew Beard committed from the class. Still, adding him to the commitment list could improve Florida's standing on ESPN's ranking moving forward.

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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Why Florida dropped in ESPN's team recruiting rankings

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