Boom! 4-star OT Fletcher Westphal commits to Florida Gators
Fletcher Westphal said recently things such as “living arrangements, education, player development and internship opportunities” were vital in his recruitment because “I have to look at the whole picture and think about my life beyond football.”
The 4-star offensive tackle thinks he found the total package in Florida.
Westphal, a standout from Leesburg (Va.) Tuscarora, publicly committed to the Gators on Monday to give Billy Napier and Co. one of their biggest recruiting wins for the 2024 class. Westphal chose Florida over Arkansas and Clemson, in that order.
“I like what is being built at Florida under Coach Napier,” Westphal told Gators Online.
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Westphal, who is listed 6-foot-7.5, 295 pounds, is the No. 19 offensive tackle in the country for the On3 Consensus. He checks in as the No. 5 recruit in the state of Virginia and is No. 252 nationally. Westphal holds a 90.57 On3 Consensus rating and a 90 rating from On3.
Westphal is commitment No. 18 in the 2024 cycle for the Gators. They currently have the country’s No. 3 class (Full class HERE).
Florida’s commit list includes two 5-stars and 11 4-stars in the On3 Industry Rankings. The Gators have an average commit rating of 92.453. The 5-stars are safety Xavier Filsaime and quarterback DJ Lagway, both from Texas.
Westphal is the fourth offensive lineman on the Gators’ commit list.
“During my recruitment, I never doubted being a top recruit for them,” Westphal said.
Westphal praised the Gators’ two offensive line coaches, Rob Sale and Darnell Stapleton.
“They are the full package when it comes to coaching with their personal player experience, NFL experience and years of coaching experience,” Westphal said. “I could learn a lot from them both. Plus it gives the (O-Line) more reps in practice because they can divide and conquer.”
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Westphal officially visited Florida on June 16-18. Gators starting left tackle Austin Barber served as the player host for him on that visit. Barber and other offensive linemen gave Westphal feedback on the Florida football program and on both Sale and Stapleton.
“Just getting to spend a lot of time with the players really,” Westphal said. “On other visits — I’ve only been to two. One was a game, so I wasn’t spending time with the players. And then the other was a practice, I spent some time in spring practice with some players like Rod [Kearney], but it was spending a lot of time with the players. And that was definitely a huge, huge part of this official visit.”
