Rivals national recruiting analyst John Garcia Jr. charts predictions from the final remaining big fish in the class of 2025, a 2026 elite and the top selection in the NFL Draft.
MORE PREDICTIONS: Texas, Oklahoma, Auburn
CLASS OF 2025 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State
CLASS OF 2026 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State
CLASS OF 2027 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State
TRANSFER PORTAL: Full coverage | Player ranking | Team ranking | Transfer search | Transfer Tracker
1. J'VARI FLOWERS COMES OFF THE BOARD THIS SPRING.
J'Vari Flowers is going to take a handful of official visits as early as he can as the last standing undeclared recruit in the 2025 Rivals250. The original thought was the visits would take his consideration into the summer, right around the time he could enroll at one of the programs, but that won't be the case. Even though track and field season is in full swing, the trips are going to come fast and frequent once the dead period lifts.
As for the contenders, keep an eye on the out-of-state programs. Many have defaulted this race to local Miami and others in the Sunshine State, but Georgia, Auburn, Syracuse, North Carolina and others have more than a puncher's chance with the blue-chip cover corner. Flowers' camp is working on finalizing the top group and the logistics ahead of the quick turnaround expected come March.
2. FLORIDA WINS OUT FOR IN-STATE STAR MALIK MORRIS.
It has been relatively quiet on the recruiting front for one of the top prospects in the Sunshine State, even as most others are deep into layering out official visit plans for the spring and summer. That's not the worst news for Florida fans relative to Morris, who is the latest blue-chipper out of Lakeland (Fla.) High School on the program's radar. He spent time in the Swamp throughout the 2024 season and has long admitted the program has always been on the forefront.
Morris has not publicly released any information beyond planned trips to Florida, Miami and Texas A&M in June, with UF on pace to get the final visit of the bunch as of this writing. Other programs will surely look to take a shot on such a high-floor prospect ranked top 10 at the position, but it feels like an uphill climb due to how well-positioned Billy Napier and company look at this time.
Local pipeline pressure and the resurgence of the program late in the 2024 season makes Morris one of the prospects Florida fans need to track most closely.
3. TRAVIS HUNTER WILL NOT GO NO. 1 IN THE NFL DRAFT.
Overthinking season is here and next week's NFL combine will only reinforce as much from the league's executives, so the best football player may not hear his name called as early as many of us once thought. Phrases like 'premium position value' and 'injury risk' will pop up even though Travis Hunter plays two of the five more valuable positions in the game and his availability as an unprecedented two-way player is historically strong.
It means Cam Ward, the rightful QB1, or Abdul Carter out of Penn State will likely get to walk across the stage before Hunter. Or the developing possibility relative to a trade at the top of the draft, as teams reach to grab one of the two at their premium positions, will push the Heisman winner's stock lower than it probably should. But by the end of September, you can count on enjoying the redraft pieces calling for Hunter to have gone higher.
