Zach’s Mail Stack: Which Tampa tackle will Florida land?

“Zach’s Mail Stack” is a weekly mailbag with SEC Country reporter Zach Abolverdi, who has covered Florida Gators recruiting since 2010. This week Abolverdi analyzes Florida’s chances with Richard Gouraige, Nicholas Petit-Frere and Brendan Radley-Hiles. 

Do we end up with Gouriage or Petit Fere? Heard they were favoring Clemson and OSU now?

— Chris Nabors (@ChrisNabors4) October 18, 2017

Abolverdi: There’s no doubt that Richard Gouraige and Nicholas Petit-Frere are priorities for the staff.

The 4-star offensive tackles from Tampa, Fla., were the first recruits to receive visits from Florida coach Jim McElwain on Monday. The Gators may not be able to land both linemen, but they must sign at least one of them.

Clemson is the one and only school that poses a threat to UF, while Alabama and Ohio State appear to be Florida’s biggest competition for Petit-Frere. Of the two tackles, the Gators have a better shot with Gouraige.

He named Clemson his leader this week in an interview with 247Sports, but Florida had been his top school since the spring. Gouraige remains high on the Gators and I think they’ll regain the edge before he decides.

RELATED: Gouraige down to Clemson, Florida

Petit-Frere is nowhere near a decision and won’t be announcing finalists any time soon. Florida will have a hat on the table and may ultimately land him, but that probably wouldn’t happen until National Signing Day. I expect his recruitment to go the distance.

J. Chase has been in much deeper conversation with LSU than ever before. With a QB passing for 125ypg, is he and other WRs slipping away?

— Timmy Lanier (@timmywhitney) October 18, 2017

Abolverdi: Florida WR commit Ja’Marr Chase visited Baton Rouge last Saturday after attending the Florida-LSU game the weekend prior.

The Tigers are still under consideration by Chase, but that hasn’t caught Florida off guard. When the coaches accepted his commitment in July, they knew the top-100 recruit still wanted to take his official visits and that LSU would be a destination.

But as Chase explained to SEC Country’s San Spiegelman, it will take more than a few hours at LSU for him to de-commit from the Gators.

“I’m not going to change my mind after one visit,” Chase said. “Something needs to wow me. I’ve got to get that wowing and it’s unexplainable. I want to see more of the spread offense that they’re talking about, throwing the ball how I’ve expected.

“I expected a lot from how much they put into the offense. I’m expecting them to be throwing the ball around. That’s all I worry about with LSU — nothing else but them throwing it around.”

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