Florida football recruiting: JUCO TE Lucas Krull picks Gators

The Florida Gators are bereft at tight end entering the 2018 season, with a combination of underwhelming recruiting and development leaving the program without proven options at the position.

Now, new coach Dan Mullen will have one of the more intriguing players on Florida’s 2018 roster at the position in the form of JUCO tight end Lucas Krull — who committed to the Gators via Twitter on Thursday night.

Krull, who hails from Shawnee, Kansas, originally committed to Arkansas as a pitcher out of high school in 2016, but changed tacks and went to Jefferson College in Missouri as a pitcher. His potential as a tight end, though, is part of what piqued Florida’s interest, and had the Gators vying for Kansas State, among others, for his commitment.

And that potential is premised largely on his size. Krull stands 6’7”, and likely weighs in at somewhere between 230 pounds (his listed weight at Arkansas) and 255 pounds (his listed weight per 247Sports) — which makes him by far Florida’s biggest player at the position, given that no other tight end on the Gators’ roster is over 6’4”.

Krull is also going to be immediately eligible in 2018, as a JUCO transfer, so he could put that size to work as a blocker in multiple-TE sets — ones that Mullen has historically employed — right away even if he is a work in progress as a pass-catcher, something that wouldn’t be surprising given his limited football background.

Krull is Florida’s sixth incoming transfer of the 2017-18 year, joining offensive lineman Jean Delance, wide receivers Trevon Grimes and Van Jefferson, defensive end Adam Shuler, and defensive tackle Marlon Dunlap. Delance, Dunlap, Krull, and Shuler are all eligible to play in 2018, while Grimes and Jefferson are still waiting on potential clearance, with Jefferson’s seeming all but a fait accompli.