{"id":298620,"date":"2026-06-06T20:07:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T20:07:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/298620\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T20:07:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T20:07:25","slug":"top-safety-target-picks-florida-gators-instead-of-florida-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/298620\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Safety Target Picks Florida Gators Instead Of Florida State"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Just a week ago, the defensive backfield appeared to be the most stable position group in #Tribe27.<\/p>\n<p>Things change swiftly on the recruiting trail as <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/ncaaf\/teams\/florida-state\/\" data-i13n=\"sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link\" data-ylk=\"slk:Florida State;sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link;itc:0\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Florida State&quot;,&quot;ySubModuleName&quot;:&quot;anchor_text&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Florida State<\/a>&#8216;s top commitment and four-star safety, Mekhi Williams, reopened his recruitment and pledged to <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/ncaaf\/teams\/wisconsin\/\" data-i13n=\"sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link\" data-ylk=\"slk:Wisconsin;sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link;itc:0\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Wisconsin&quot;,&quot;ySubModuleName&quot;:&quot;anchor_text&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Wisconsin<\/a>. Plus, three-star cornerback DaYon Cooper is being pursued as a wide receiver by a handful of other programs, and that battle is far from over.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/fsu\/florida-state-seminoles-in-the-pros\/former-fsu-star-jared-verse-shares-honest-thoughts-rams-trade\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:READ MORE: Former FSU Star Jared Verse Shares Honest Thoughts on Rams Trade;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;READ MORE&quot;}\" class=\"link \">READ MORE: Former FSU Star Jared Verse Shares Honest Thoughts on Rams Trade<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Suddenly, the Seminoles are in danger of having to rebuild their secondary in the class. The board is thinning down swiftly.<\/p>\n<p>Three-Star DB Commits To Florida Gators Over Florida State<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, three-star safety Kamarion Johnson revealed his commitment to <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/ncaaf\/teams\/florida\/\" data-i13n=\"sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link\" data-ylk=\"slk:Florida;sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link;itc:0\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Florida&quot;,&quot;ySubModuleName&quot;:&quot;anchor_text&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Florida<\/a>, choosing the Gators over Florida State and Cincinnati.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson was one of the top uncommitted safeties on the Seminoles&#8217; board. He was expected to officially visit Florida State later this month, but pledged to the Gators while in Gainesville.<\/p>\n<p>Florida is ascending on the trail under new head coach Jon Sumrall, sitting at No. 4 in the country. FSU has only added four commitments since the beginning of the year.<\/p>\n<p>The Seminoles just extended a scholarship offer to Johnson in April. The rising senior was previously committed to North Carolina State.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>During his junior season at Clinch County high School, Johnson made plays in all three phases of the game. He totaled 29 tackles, three tackles for loss, and five interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown, on defense.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson caught 38 passes for 828 yards and 11 touchdowns on offense. He also had success as a returner, bringing back two punts for scores and a kickoff return for a touchdown.<\/p>\n<p>The 6-foot-0, 185-pound defensive back is regarded as the No. 439 overall prospect, the No. 39 S, and the No. 46 recruit in Georgia in the 2027 class according to the 247Sports Composite Ratings.<\/p>\n<p>With Johnson off the board, Florida State&#8217;s targets at safety include four-star Ta&#8217;Shawn Poole, four-star Jernard Albright, and four-star Joshua Vilmael.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Information On Florida State&#8217;s 2027 Class<\/p>\n<p>Florida State holds seven verbal commitments in #Tribe27, which ranks No. 55 in the country.<\/p>\n<p>Who Is Committed To FSU In The 2027 Class?<\/p>\n<p>Three-Star QB Logan Flaherty<\/p>\n<p>Three-Star TE Connor Winn<\/p>\n<p>Three-Star DE Anthony Cavallaro<\/p>\n<p>Three-Star DL Eric Vaulx Jr.<\/p>\n<p>Four-Star LB Gregory Batson<\/p>\n<p>Three-Star DB Jemari Foreman<\/p>\n<p>Three-Star DB DaYon Cooper<\/p>\n<p>Who Does Florida State Have In The Defensive Backfield For The 2026 Season?<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/ncaaf\/players\/450072\/\" data-i13n=\"sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link\" data-ylk=\"slk:Ashlynd Barker;sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link;itc:0\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Ashlynd Barker&quot;,&quot;ySubModuleName&quot;:&quot;anchor_text&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ashlynd Barker<\/a>, Redshirt Senior<\/p>\n<p>Donny Hiebert, Senior<\/p>\n<p>Quindarrius Jones, Senior<\/p>\n<p>KJ Kirkland, Redshirt Junior<\/p>\n<p>Ja&#8217;Bril Rawls, Redshirt Junior<\/p>\n<p>Karson Hobbs, Junior<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Nehemiah Chandler, Redshirt Sophomore<\/p>\n<p>CJ Richard Jr., Redshirt Sophomore<\/p>\n<p>Jarvis Boatwright, Redshirt Sophomore<\/p>\n<p>Charles Lester III, Redshirt Sophomore<\/p>\n<p>Ricky Knight III, Redshirt Sophomore<\/p>\n<p>Jamari Howard, Redshirt Sophomore<\/p>\n<p>Ma&#8217;Khi Jones, Sophomore<\/p>\n<p>Gregory <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/nfl\/players\/41013\/\" data-i13n=\"sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link\" data-ylk=\"slk:Xavier Thomas;sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link;itc:0\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Xavier Thomas&quot;,&quot;ySubModuleName&quot;:&quot;anchor_text&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Xavier Thomas<\/a>, Redshirt Freshman<\/p>\n<p>Max Redmon, Redshirt Freshman<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/nfl\/players\/7768\/\" data-i13n=\"sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link\" data-ylk=\"slk:Antonio Cromartie;sec:content-canvas;subsec:anchor_text;elm:context_link;itc:0\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Antonio Cromartie&quot;,&quot;ySubModuleName&quot;:&quot;anchor_text&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Antonio Cromartie<\/a> Jr., Redshirt Freshman<\/p>\n<p>Chauncey Kennon, Freshman<\/p>\n<p>Darryl Bell III, Freshman<\/p>\n<p>Jordan Crutchfield, Freshman<\/p>\n<p>Sign up for our<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/fsu\/newsletter\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:free newsletter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;free newsletter&quot;}\" class=\"link \">free newsletter<\/a>and follow us on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/fsu\/florida-state-seminoles-college-basketball\/facebook.com\/NoleGameday\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Facebook;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Facebook&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Facebook<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/nolegameday?s=21&amp;t=nyCeWGVWMsSpULqWCupqGA\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:X;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;X&quot;}\" class=\"link \">X<\/a>, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/nolegameday\/?hl=en\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Instagram;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Instagram&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Instagram<\/a>for the latest news.<\/p>\n<p>This article was originally published on www.si.com\/college\/fsu as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/fsu\/florida-state-seminoles-recruiting\/top-safety-target-picks-florida-gators-instead-of-florida-state-kamarion-johnson-?utm_source=RSS\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Top Safety Target Picks Florida Gators Instead Of Florida State;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Top Safety Target Picks Florida Gators Instead Of Florida State&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Top Safety Target Picks Florida Gators Instead Of Florida State<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just a week ago, the defensive backfield appeared to be the most stable position group in #Tribe27. Things&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":298621,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[123139,123138,28,2530,30,29,1320,3731,125603,125604,13810,123140],"class_list":["post-298620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-antonio-cromartie","tag-ashlynd-barker","tag-florida","tag-florida-gators","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-florida-state","tag-florida-state-seminoles","tag-kamarion-johnson","tag-redshirt-senior","tag-wisconsin","tag-xavier-thomas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/298621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}