Jacob Eason, nation's No. 2 quarterback, set to officially visit Florida

Florida will host Lake Stevens, Washington quarterback Jacob Eason, currently a Georgia commit, on an official visit from Tuesday, December 1, until Thursday, a source confirmed to Alligator Army Monday evening. News of Eason visiting Florida was first broken by Luke Stampini of 247Sports Monday evening ($).

Eason, a consensus five-star prospect, is the nation's No. 2 pro-style quarterback in the 2016 recruiting class, according to the 247Sports Composite, and the No. 5 prospect overall in the same ranking system.

Eason has been committed to Georgia since July 2014, and famously dined with Georgia coach Mark Richt earlier in November 2015, with Richt's tweeted photo of the encounter seen as affirmation that he might well stay on at Georgia beyond the 2015 season. But Richt and Georgia have since agreed to part ways, and Florida and Eason also made contact in early November, with Eason notably making headlines by following Florida offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier on Twitter.

Now, the Gators are in hot pursuit of their SEC East rival's highest-ranked commit.

The move to host Eason would seem a curious one, with Florida having received a public commitment from four-star passer Feleipe Franks Sunday evening, just about 48 hours from the projected beginning of Eason's official visit.

But Florida's always had a plan to take multiple quarterbacks in its 2016 recruiting class — and those plans predated the emergence and suspension of Will Grier and the recent struggles from Treon Harris, and included the continued recruitment of Maryland commit Dwayne Haskins, Jr., so it's very much possible that the Gators' net has widened still further in recent weeks.

Whether Franks or fellow committed quarterback Kyle Trask of Texas would be affected by Eason's visit remains to be seen, but every indication is that Florida is pursuing Eason as an addition to its current class, not a replacement for any member of it.

Eason has yet to publicly decommit from Georgia, but he is widely expected to at least look around during the month he has until enrolling at a school in January.

And while bringing him to campus for an official visit is far from even taking a lead for his commitment, it's another pleasant shocker for Florida on the recruiting trail.