How Florida flipped Easton Royal![\"Florida](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/01m4nykwc93zm3fc81e3.jpg\" "\\"Florida")
<\/p>\n
Florida head coach Jon Sumrall watches the action against South Carolina | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n
Royal had been committed to Texas since November, but Florida\u2019s push picked up speed after his Sept. 26 game-day visit to Gainesville, where the Gators beat then-No. 4 Ole Miss and put up 52 points. He left the Swamp saying he could picture himself playing there.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne-hundred-percent, I can,\u201d Royal told Rivals\u2019 Sam Spiegelman<\/a>. \u201cThat offense looks very explosive.\u201d<\/p>\n Sumrall\u2019s relationship with the speedster goes back to his time at Tulane, where members of his current staff recruited him. Rivals\u2019 Steve Wiltfong then logged an expert prediction<\/a> for the Gators before Royal returned to Gainesville for Saturday\u2019s homecoming game against South Carolina.<\/p>\n Florida lost to the Gamecocks, but Royal said this season\u2019s results wouldn\u2019t shape his choice and blamed injuries at receiver, including the absence of Vernell Brown III. The staff also sold him on an immediate role in the offense.<\/p>\n \u201cThey tell me that Eric Singleton will be gone and they will need me to come in and replace him and stretch the field,\u201d Royal told Gator Country<\/a>.<\/p>\n Easton Royal\u2019s ranking and production<\/p>\n Rivals ranks Royal No. 3 nationally, while ESPN slots him at No. 8 and 247Sports puts him at No. 15. Every major service lists him as a top-two receiver, and he\u2019s the top-ranked prospect in Louisiana.<\/p>\n The 5-foot-11, 200-pound receiver caught 54 passes for 1,065 yards and 15 touchdowns in 13 games as a junior in 2025. He also runs track and owns a 10.17-second time in the 100 meters.<\/p>\n Royal earned MVP honors at the Under Armour All-America Game in January after a one-handed touchdown catch over fellow five-star Joshua Dobson. Rivals\u2019 scouting team compares him to former Gators star Percy Harvin in his Rivals profile<\/a>.<\/p>\n He joins interior offensive lineman Maxwell Hiller, the No. 2 overall prospect, as Florida\u2019s second five-star pledge in the 2027 cycle<\/a>.<\/p>\n What\u2019s next for Texas and LSU? Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian reacts during the second half against the Oklahoma Sooners | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n Neither school will get another look from Royal this fall. His canceled trips included Texas\u2019 home game against Florida next weekend and two November visits to LSU.<\/p>\n \u201cMy recruitment is shut down,\u201d Royal told Fawcett<\/a>.<\/p>\n The flip came one day after Oklahoma upset then-No. 1 Texas in the Red River Rivalry. Texas coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns now host the Gators on Oct. 17 in Austin without their former pledge in the stands, and Texas already lost out on five-star receiver Monshun Sales to Indiana this cycle.<\/p>\n LSU spent most of the summer as the favorite to flip Royal. Lane Kiffin took the Tigers’ job the day after Royal committed to Texas, and Spiegelman forecast an LSU flip<\/a> in late July.<\/p>\n Royal had planned to be in Baton Rouge for the Texas at LSU game on Nov. 14. He can sign with Florida during the early signing period in December.<\/p>\n![\"Texas](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/01m4nymstxak31eexcb4.jpg\" "\\"Texas")
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\"){kind=icon}
Add us as a preferred source on Google