The Florida football team picked up an intriguing commitment over the weekend as three-star 2026 defensive lineman Jamir Perez announced that he will play for Billy Napier and the Gators. Perez doesn't have a very high ranking, but he stands at 6'4″, and he is 360 pounds. Perez is an absolute unit, and he has the size to be a beast along the defensive line for the Gators.

“BREAKING: Class of 2026 DL Jamir Perez has Committed to Florida, he tells me for @on3recruits,” Hayes Fawcett said in a post. “The 6’4 360 DL from Cleveland, OH chose the Gators over Ohio State, Vanderbilt, & Wisconsin.”

Jamir Perez had a simple message for Florida football fans upon his commitment:

“In the Swamp, let’s get to it!! I’m Home!”

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Perez is a three-star recruit, according to 247Sports. He is the #640 player in the 2026 recruiting class, the #74 DL and the #27 player in the state of Ohio. Perez currently attends Glenville High School in Cleveland, OH. Stealing a recruit right out of Ohio State's backyard is huge for the Gators. The Buckeyes were a finalist for Perez, but he decided that he wanted to play at Florida.

There is one former Florida football player that comes to mind when looking at Perez. That player is defensive lineman Desmond Watson, who just signed as an undrafted free agent with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Watson also came to Florida as a three-star DL, and he also came in with quite the frame. Watson was 6'5″, 380 lbs. A lot of people doubted him for being too slow, but he did find a way to sign with an NFL team.

Perez isn't quite as big as Watson, but he is another beast that will be a scary sight for opposing offensive linemen down the road. It has to be promising for him to see what happened with Watson as the two of them have a very similar play style.

With this commitment, the Florida football team now has the 73rd-best 2026 recruiting class in the country. Jamir Perez was just the second 2026 recruit to commit to the Gators. Florida is off to a slow start, but it finished with one of the best classes in the country last year. A lot of official visits are lined up with top targets, and most players don't commit until the summer and fall months. If you're a Florida fan, it's still too early to be worried about the ranking of this class.