Florida Gators lose out on top recruit with elite lineage to bitter rival, but have the ability to flip everything

Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier has been making the secondary a focus when it comes to the 2026 recruiting class. They just secured the commitment of four-star safety Kaiden Hall on Tuesday afternoon, and multiple five-star recruits have been priority targets, including Bralan Womack. One of their many targets in the secondary was four-star […]

Tyler Forness NFL & College Football News Writer
Add as preferred source on Google
2026 four-star cornerback Justice Fitzpatrick
Blair Angulo 247 Sports

Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier has been making the secondary a focus when it comes to the 2026 recruiting class. They just secured the commitment of four-star safety Kaiden Hall on Tuesday afternoon, and multiple five-star recruits have been priority targets, including Bralan Womack.

One of their many targets in the secondary was four-star cornerback Justice Fitzpatrick, who is the little brother of Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. The Gators made his top-five last week, but that's where the good news ends.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DKKWyrptxJK/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading

Despite having the Gators in his top five just last week, Fitzpatrick has decided to commit to Georgia, just days after taking an official visit to Athens.

The St. Thomas Aquinas product, who is the seventh-ranked cornerback and 64th overall recruit in the 2026 class per On3 Sports' Industry Ranking, picking Georgia shouldn't be much of a surprise, especially since Minkah played for Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart at Alabama, but the timing is. Georgia was his first official visit.

Right now, Fitzpatrick still has multiple official vists scheduled.

  • Miami: June 5th
  • Florida: June 7th
  • Texas: June 13th
  • Ohio State: June 20th

The question remains whether or not Fitzpatrick will end up making those visits, especially because the right impression on one of those visits could end up causing him to flip. It's still early in the process, so it's going to be interesting to see what happens with his recruitment.