Florida football recruiting: 2018 WR Jalynn Williams commits to Gators

Class of 2018 wide receiver Jalynn Williams became the Florida Gators’ first commitment of the 2018 class on Friday, announcing his commitment on Twitter shortly before noon.

Ryan Bartow of 247Sports was first to report Williams’s commitment, which the St. Petersburg High junior confirmed with retweets of other outlets announcing his commitment.

Williams also tweeted and then swiftly deleted an original tweet announcing his commitment, before later sending a similar one:

The differences between the two? Williams wrote “I’m am” in the first tweet, did not include the clasped hands emoji until the second, and did not use a comma prior to the appositive phrase “THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA” in his first tweet. (I’m pro-grammar.)

Williams is a three-star player per the 247Sports Composite rankings, and sits just inside the nation’s top 500 prospects per that ranking, coming in at No. 492.

His highlight reel, which begins with an absurd one-handed interception, suggests that he might be at least a little underrated.

Williams shows excellent quickness, acceleration, and agility, and makes would-be tacklers miss effortlessly time and again. And while St. Petersburg High is not known as a football power in Florida’s high school ranks, it is a 7A school — the Florida High School Athletic Association’s classification for schools with 1,939 to 2,331 students — and plays in the same region as East Lake and Seminole, both more respected programs.

There are only 13 months between Williams’s commitment and National Signing Day for his high school class, so much could still change about his status or commitment.