Four-star receiver Jerrae Hawkins signs with Florida
Four-star recruit Jerrae Hawkins of Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy signed his National Letter of Intent with Florida on Wednesday, which is National Signing Day. Here’s everything you need to know about him.
Position: Receiver
Height/Weight: 5-foot-8.5 /160 pounds
On3 Industry Rankings: No. 214 overall, No. 39 WR, No. 29 in Georgia.
Commitment date: 6/26/23
Chose Florida over: Miami
Time of enrollment: January
Hawkins says: “I just like everything about (Florida). They are playing for the future to get Florida back right. Also, how they use guys like me (stands out too). Another thing is I’m running track here. I’m doing football and track, so that was a big factor.”
Stats: Hawkins had 25 catches for 476 yards and four touchdowns this season.
Notable: Hawkins is from Wheeling, W.V. … He has 100-meter times recorded in the 10.4-second range.
Social Media: Twitter (@Tankk_1k) Instagram (@1ktankk_)
What the Gators are getting in Jerrae Hawkins
Scouting report: This is a dynamic player who does a great job of wreaking havoc after the catch.
Once Hawkins tucks away the football, he typically makes several defenders with his stop-and-go style of play. He does a nice job of navigating through clutter and weaves in and out with ease. This is obviously not the biggest receiver out there, but Hawkins makes up for it with his open-field ability.
This is also a prospect who can get vertical and take the top off the defense as well; in fact; a number of his touchdowns are off seam routes. Hawkins reaches top speed in a hurry and blazes past the secondary more often than not. His acceleration is impressive.
With Hawkins heading to the SEC, he definitely will need to strengthen up his frame. Adding mass will be a priority as well, but he is who he is. Too much mass could take away from his explosive style of play, but with UF’s resources, it will not take long for Hawkins to add quality strength. — Corey Bender, On3
Quoteworthy: “Real fast, athletic, quick twitch, does a really good job of catching the ball naturally with his hands. I think sometimes with a track guy you lose that perspective. I don’t think all the time it transfers over, but he plays fast. We know he’s track fast, but he plays football fast. And he’s got the football skillset. Jerrae runs hard, just like all our guys do. He can line up anywhere. He’s a really smart guy. We can put him on kick return, we can put him on punt return, we can put him on punt block, we can put him in the backfield, we can put him at slot, we can put him wherever we want.” — IMG coach Billy Miller
