Three freshmen – Ledbetter, Young, Williams – set to leave Florida Gators

By Adam Silverstein
December 11, 2013

Updated on Thursday at 12:45 p.m.

Redshirt freshman safety/fullback Rhaheim Ledbetter, redshirt freshman defensive/offensive lineman Quinteze Williams and freshman offensive lineman/tight end Trevon Young have all decided to leave the Florida Gators football program.

Separate reports came out about all three players on Wednesday night and Thursday morning before the school confirmed the departures Thursday afternoon.

The cousin of former Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes and a high school teammate of current Gators sophomore defensive end Jonathan Bullard, Ledbetter chose Florida over interest from Alabama, Clemson, Miami and South Carolina back in July 2011.

He redshirted as a true freshman and moved over to fullback in the spring of 2012. Though Ledbetter did well in his new role, he only saw limited action on special teams this season. He will have three years of eligibility remaining.

Young joined the Gators less than 24 hours after the conclusion of National Signing Day on Feb. 7. The hybrid offensive lineman/tight end received a late scholarship offer from head coach Will Muschamp and ultimately decided to try his hand at football rather than play basketball at Division II school Eckerd College.

At 6’6” and 260 pounds, Young did not begin playing football until his junior year of high school and often said that basketball was by far and away his preferred sport. He was considered to be a developmental prospect at tight end as his only football playing experience has been as an offensive tackle. Young will likely return to the hardwood.

A high school defensive tackle who could also play defensive end, Williams moved over to the offensive side of the ball during spring practice after taking a redshirt as a true freshman. He was suspended for the 2013 season opener due to a violation of team rules and barely saw the field otherwise. Williams initially chose Florida primarily over Georgia but also Auburn, Florida State and Tennessee.

28 Comments

  1. Croc says:

    So why do you feel so good about Lane and Cook?
    It’s laughable that they are still considered commitments.

  2. Zach says:

    Go ahead and add Staver, Morniwheig, and Murphy to the list while you’re at it.

  3. Gatorgrad79 says:

    Well crap! This will turn into a flood if they don’t hire an OC quickly! Adam, any peep of news, possibility WM is also out interviewing for an OC while ‘recruiting’ (and I use the term loosely). Seems we should already have an OC in place to save our 2014 class and recruit new players.

    Oh, here’s an idea – LETS GIVE WM BACK TO TEXAS!!!

  4. SWFL Joe says:

    Good luck to them. If Young couldn’t find any playing time last year with the way our O line was banged up and the TE position was non existent, then you don’t need a crystal ball to see he had no future here. I don’t know how good his basketball skills are but I would hope Billy would a least get a look see before he goes.

    • gatorboi352 says:

      You are aware that we just fired our OC and O line coaches right? There’s every possibility in the world those guys just happened to SUCK at player development and/or talent evaluations and this guy was a stud in the making being hampered by crappy coaching. Ever worked at a job with bad middle management? Same thing.

  5. Sharon M. says:

    There will probably be more to leave. I think Foley’s decision to keep WM is wrong, but time will tell.

  6. Gatoralum88 says:

    Could it be? If Saban says no, is it possible Texas would be stupid enough to pursue their former “coach in waiting”? That’s something Gator nation should pray had for. Just a thought.

  7. cline says:

    This feels like a tailspin right now. Sad times for Gator Football fans.

  8. TST says:

    just cleaning out the dead weight . Freeing up important ships !!

  9. Will W says:

    No sky is falling here. These guys were never going to play except on special teams. Looking forward to seeing this tough Gator squad in 2014.

  10. Jean says:

    Makes u wonder if WM had given other players the opportunity to play his season wouldn’t have sucked like it did. You guys are in for a surprise there’s more players leaving, so dot be so quick to say”Oh Well” free up ships because the gators Ship is sinking regardless! WM should have been the one to leave ijs

  11. G2 says:

    BREAKING NEWS…..MUSCHAMP TO TEXAS, MUSCHAMP TO TEXAS….damn, they I woke up.

  12. Zach says:

    Egg will be on a lot of faces next season when we are in Atlanta… and Staver is gone…

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