College Football Recruiting 2012: Ranking The Top 15 Florida Recruits

Florida is the third state in our "Hot Bed" rankings series for 2012. No, we have not ranked the states in order by overall depth of talent, we started west with California and headed east through Texas and now, we arrive in in the Sunshine State.

Florida takes football extremely seriously, as young players grow up playing the game with a passion. The state is large, yet if you want to lure talent to your program, you must scour every inch of Florida to make sure no stone or palm tree is left unturned. The 2012 recruiting crop within the state is very deep and very impressive, with talent across the board at all positions.

Let's see who are the top 15 overall players in the state.

15. Avery Young, OL

Young's coming out party was actually almost a calendar year ago. The 6'6", 275 pounder came to the 2010 Miami NIKE Camp and dominated the competition and was one of the top players overall at the camp. This had observers buzzing, which Young followed up with a solid junior season.

He has the tools to play both tackle positions and combines great size with great athleticism and strength. Young bends his knees and rarely gets ran around by speed rushers. He has the strength to anchor vs. powerful bull rushers and can get on to the second level in the run game.

Florida State, Michigan, Georgia, Oklahoma, South Carolina, West Virginia, North Carolina State and Marshall have all offered.

14. Latroy Pittman, WR

Pittman won't wow you with deep speed and his 40 time is pedestrian for a receiver. Yet, watch him play and on tape, he plays faster than you think. He's 6'1", 190 pounds and knows how to use his length.

He's an aware player that catches everything in his zip code. He uses his long arms to snatch balls and increase his catch radius. Pittman can catch in a crowd and really makes his money across the middle. Getting back to his awareness, Pittman knows how to settle in voids and avoid defenders on the move.

He's already committed to Florida.

13. Randy Johnson, RB

Johnson has gotten off to a solid camps and combines circuit start by performing well at the Miami Under Armour Combine a few weeks ago. He has a vertical jump of nearly 30 inches and has been timed at 4.47 in the 40.

At 5'9" and 170 pounds, Johnson's skill set makes him a great change of pace type back candidate in college. He cuts quickly and sharply and has a very good burst to fly through run alleys. Johnson plays well in space and is elusive to make defenders miss and gain maximum yards on every run.

He'll stay in the Sunshine State and play in the 305 at Miami.

12. PJ Williams, DB

Williams has the versatility at the safety spot that colleges are looking for. At 6'1" and 175 pounds he has the ability to play both strong and free safety and even a little bit at nickel corner in the slot.

He flashes the range and instincts against the pass by not getting looked off easily, stays low in his backpedal and transitions out in a hurry. Then, Williams also is quick to read and react vs. the run and plugs up run alleys vs. ball carriers with authoritative, crushing hits.

He should make a great tandem at Florida State with Karlos Williams.

11. Angelo Jean-Louis, AtH/WR

Jean-Louis is listed as an ATH, but I think his best spot and college position will be receiver. He's just too good with the football. He's one of the top play-makers in the state and among the country.

At 6'0" and 185 pounds, he can be lined up all over, including receiver, running back, wing back, slotback and even wildcat quarterback. He has the speed and wiggle to elude tackles, flashes tackle-breaking ability and run strength and has great vision in the open field. Jean-Louis also has a chance to become an All-Conference returner in college.

The explosive Jean-Louis has offers from Florida State, Clemson, Miami, Ohio State, West Virginia and Vanderbilt.

10. Dalvon Stuckey, DT

6'3", and 300 pounds, Stuckey has the strength to play the NT and zero-technique spot, but is also quick and athletic enough to man the under-tackle/three-technique position. Stuckey can even two-gap if he goes to a defensive scheme in college that asks its defensive linemen to do so.

He had over 60 plugs last year and reads and reacts well to the run. Stuckey is quick to anchor, can hold his own against double teams and makes a mess inside. He's a solid pass rusher form the interior and has range to chase when he penetrates gaps.

Stuckey has already verballed to Florida State.

9. Amos Leggett, DB

Leggett may be among the most physical defensive backs in this 2012 crop. He loves the press-man technique in coverage and really understands that he needs to always use his long arms to re-route receivers on the perimeter.

He's a menace to press at the line on receivers and has the speed to turn and run with anyone. Leggett flashes good hips and nimble feet to come out of his backpedal smoothly and quickly. He plants and drives downhill on receivers in zone and off-man and has the length to bat balls down.

Leggett, who can also play safety, has pledged to Miami already.

8. D'Vario Montgomery, WR

Montgomery is a 6'2", 205 pound receiver that is as physical a receiver as Leggett is a defensive back. He's strong enough to get off press coverage as he line and he can set his man up on routes. Montgomery is a solid athlete that doesn't need much time to build up off the line.

Aside from being strong and quick enough to get off the line, Montgomery flashes the deep speed to get even and force a corner to bail out faster than the defender wants to. He has good hands and also displays the willingness to go over the middle and fight for balls that he feels is his.

Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Notre Dame, Miami, LSU, South Carolina and Tennessee are just a few offers to name.

7. Matt Jones, RB

Jones is a player that I'm very excited about. He's a big back but can do some little back things. At 6'2" and 205 pounds, I see some Eddie George in his running style and game. He seems to know that since he is tall for a back, that he has to lower his pads and keep his shoulders square coming through holes.

He also realizes that once he gets through the hole, he's big and strong enough to break tackles on the second level, then he can open up his wings, pull the plug and get upfield in a hurry. I've also seen Jones be used in the slot and make a deep, receiver-like catches down and across the field on tape.

He's a player I look forward to watching more of and throughout his career in Gainesville at Florida.

6. Dante Phillips, DT

Phillips is a 6'6", 270 pound force of a defensive tackle prospect that can also kick out to strong-side end. He's big and athletic, yet strong enough to also play in a rare, slanting style 3-4 defense as an end.

He uses his length and arms to stay clean in his pursuit vs. blockers, doesn't like offensive guards in his body and has solid quickness at the snap.

Phillips flashes short area play range in the middle to chase and pursuit and has some shock value at the point of attack. He flashes solid instincts to read and react to the run and pass.

Despite an array of offers, Phillips has pledged to Florida.

5. Mario Pender, RB

Wow, did Pender dominate as a junior or what? He rushed for over 2200 yards and and 32 touchdowns as a junior. Most running backs dream of those numbers over two and three years, and Pender yawned and cranked that out in one.

6'0", 185 pounds, he has very good speed and an explosive burst to get through run alleys. He's very shifty and elusive and can make the best wrap tackler miss and be left grasping air.

Pender is an instinctive player with great field vision and awareness with the ball in his hands. He processes information quickly, yet has patience to set up blocks and let thing s develop. He also can be used as a receiver out of the backfield when needed.

Pender will be left to duplicate his junior stats easily and freely as he is already made it known Florida State is where he is headed.

4. Avery Johnson, WR

Johnson is a 6'2", 185 pound receiver that oozes complete receiver potential. He has a frame that can easily gain a bit more muscle mass, but already moves at a college like speed around the field. Johnson is athletic and flashes suddenness out of his breaks to gain separation.

He's a consistent deep threat and does a very good job of eating up cushion and stemming up corners. Johnson has solid strength which allows to fight corners in press-man coverages. He has solid hands and leaping ability to high point balls.

The younger brother of Patrick Peterson, Johnson is headed to LSU.

3. Dante Fowler, DE

Fowler enjoyed as much success on the defensive side of the ball as Pender did as a running back. Over 105 tackles, 33 of which were for loss and 20 sacks as a junior is remarkable. The 6'3", 240 pounder can play both defensive end and outside linebacker.

Fowler has good size and strength to do what he wants, yet is very fast to use his speed in pursuit. He likes to play in the offensive backfield rather than his defensive second level, routinely flying up to make stops. He has great vision to track ball carriers and is very, very instinctive to sniff out plays.

The hybrid defender will take his talents to Florida State.

2. Eddie Williams, DB/ATH

Williams is a 6'4", 200 pounder that reminds me of Will Hill coming out of high school. Tall and lanky with silky smooth athleticism. He currently factors for his high school squad as a receiver, linebacker and safety.

Many say his best spot in college will be free safety because Williams has great range, can get off the hashes quickly in transition and be left to roam around to make interceptions in coverage.

Others say he will grow in to an instinctive outside linebacker to use his speed and instincts to make plays near the line of scrimmage, while others say his hands are too good not to be used at receiver.

Alabama will be charged with figuring out where he should play.

1. Travis Blanks, DB/ATH

Blanks is a 6'1", 180 pound defensive back that has the size and strength to play safety, yet the possesses the athleticism and short area quickness to excel as a corner. He is among the elite defensive backs in not just the state, but also the country.

Instinctive and physical, Blanks has the ball skills and range to be charged as a free safety, where he can cover deep thirds and halves. He plugs run alleys well, recording over 100 tackles a junior and even holds his own in transition in off-man and quarters coverage.

Blanks loves to get physical at the line of scrimmage as a corner, re-routes well and can turn and run with receivers routinely with ease.

He holds offers from just about the entire SEC and ACC and all of the favorite national powers in college football.