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Florida football recruiting: Lightning-quick DE Antonneous Clayton commits to Gators

In a blink, the Gators have a new speedy edge rusher.

By Andy Hutchins
Student Sports

Georgia defensive end Antonneous Clayton is quick as a hiccup — and he committed to Florida almost as swiftly on Wednesday morning, announcing the news with a tweet just after 8 a.m. Eastern.

Clayton is a four-star defensive end, per the 247Sports Composite, and the nation's No. 99 overall prospect in the same ranking. Listed at 6'3" and 218 pounds by 247Sports, Clayton does clearly lack the sort of bulk that would allow him to compete at the SEC level as a true freshman — but Florida and Auburn were both in hot pursuit of him, with Florida State also giving chase.

Perhaps that's because Clayton's quickness jumps off the screen in his highlights.

Those are from his 2014 season, too; it's fair to think Clayton may have gotten a bit faster since then, or added some strength to go with his speed.

Clayton is the third defensive end in Florida's recruiting class, but he's regarded as a sight better than both JaQuan Bailey and Eric Mitchell, the two whom he joins. And quiet whispers have suggested that either or both of Bailey and Mitchell could conceivably not end up with the Gators; if so, Clayton's a clear upgrade, and, if not, Clayton's the prize of a decent three-person group at the position.

Florida's fast start to the 2015 season had largely not translated to its recruiting efforts until earlier in October, when four-star wide receiver Freddie Swain committed to the Gators, but with Clayton on board, this is arguably Jim McElwain's most fruitful month of recruiting — and certainly so in terms of quality.