OL Octavius Jackson is commit No. 22 for Gators

Though the Florida Gators streak of five commitments in five days came to an end on July 30, the program’s momentum obviously continued to roll into this week as three-star offensive lineman Octavius Jackson (Moultrie, GA) officially announced on Friday his intention to play football in Gainesville, FL next season.

Unranked by Rivals, which reports that he impressed he coaching staff after working out for them in a June camp session, Jackson chose Florida over Vanderbilt and had what some would not necessarily call an impressive offer sheet with Kentucky and South Florida as the two other most prominent schools that were hoping to sign him.

The Gators did not offer Jackson right away though. Instead Florida’s coaches spent nearly six weeks evaluating his film and finding out how some potentially higher-ranked players (on their board) felt about playing at UF.

No doubt helping his cause is the fact that Jackson is the type of player head coach Will Muschamp likes – athletic and versatile with a a good head on his shoulders. Not only is Jackson a solid student, he also played defensive line last season and was a member of his high school’s basketball and track & field teams (shot put) as a junior.

In the end he got his scholarship offer and came to a quick decision, choosing to play for the Gators and fight for playing time in what is quickly becoming a deep unit.

Jackson (6’4″, 285 lbs.) is Florida’s fourth three-star offensive line commitment for the 2013 recruiting cycle, joining Roderick Johnson (Delray Beach, FL), Joshua Outlaw (Lithonia, GA) and Cameron Dillard (Canton, MI).

He is only the Gators’ seventh pledge from outside the state of Florida but is one of four the coaching staff has poached from the state of Georgia.

Jackson’s commitment was first reported by ESPN.