Florida football recruiting: Four-star DLs Amaris Williams, Nasir Johnson commit to Gators

Football

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Image Credit: UAA

A good day on the recruiting trail for the Florida Gators — at least when it comes to the Class of 2024 — got even better Saturday night. Four-star defensive lineman Amaris Williams (Clinton, NC) and Nasir Johnson (Dublin, GA) committed to the Gators coming out of official visits to Gainesville, Florida.

Williams (6-foot-3, 270 pounds) committed to Florida out of a significant list of offers, though he had not announced any finalists. Johnson (6-foot-5, 300 pounds) made his pledge to UF over Florida State and South Carolina. In total, the Gators picked up a trio of four-star pledges on the day.

Respectively rated No. 186 and No. 250 overall in the 247Sports Composite, both are ranked higher by 247Sports internal rankings at No. 88 and No. 191. They committed just hours after four-star tight end Amir Jackson (Portal, GA), No. 108 in the 247Sports Composite, did the same.

The commitments of Williams, Johnson and Jackson combined to boost the Gators 14 spots to No. 8 in the 247Sports Composite team rankings. Florida now has five of the top 108 players in the nation, including four of the top 53 with two five-star commitments (quarterback DJ Lagway, safety Xavier Filsaime).

Earlier Saturday, four-star 2025 quarterback Austin Simmons — long expected to reclassify to the Class of 2023 and enroll at UF this summer — decided to reclassify but flipped from Florida to Ole Miss. Simmons was the signal caller that head coach Billy Napier had long been talking about as the player expected to join his quarterback room prior to the season.

Though losing Simmons hurts depth for 2023, the Gators made some significant headway in the 2024 cycle on Saturday. The three additions are all blue-chip prospects who will continue to flip Florida’s roster as Napier has intended since he took over the program.