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Florida Gators OT Prospect Caden Jones Releases Top Five

De La Salle (La.) offensive tackle Caden Jones includes the Gators in his top five schools list.

Florida Gators offensive tackle target Caden Jones officially released his list of top five schools on Saturday, including UF alongside Texas A&M, Texas, FSU and Houston. 

Jones had teased that these programs made up his finalists in an interview with AllGators last week, and made the list official over the weekend.

The Gators' uptick in recruiting as of late has filled out a firm foundation in the bump class for Billy Napier and Co. in their first full cycle. Now, the main goals for Florida will be closing on the elite-level talent they've pursued to this point and filling the evident holes remaining from their board.

Jones would allow them to fill the void at offensive tackle, and they are in great shape to land the New Orleans-based talent, mainly due to the Louisiana-ties the new staff has coming over from Lousiana-Lafayette. 

Running backs coach Jabbar Juluke — who relates to Jones being from The Boot — supplies him with the comfort as he gears up to leave his home state.

"That really goes a long way because [Juluke] can kind of relate better to me than people can from other places," Jones stated. "Because not everybody is from New Orleans or Louisiana, so it goes a long way."

Additionally, the employment of two offensive line coaches Rob Sale and Darnell Stapleton gives Jones more to like, this time pertaining to his development.

"As far as the two offensive line coaches go, it is a great thing to have. Say you have 8-to-10 offensive linemen, one coach can't help each and every person develop and get better. So, they can split that in half and they can have five on five or four on four, that split."

Jones has yet to announce a date for his commitment, planning to take his five allotted official visits this fall before coming to his final verdict. However, the talented trench prospect failed to rule out an early pledge if a school moves the needle in the coming months.

He plans to travel to Gainesville for his official visit with the Gators in December.

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