Gators move up to No. 1 in ESPN recruit rankings

The Florida Gators on Thursday jumped to No. 1 in ESPN's football recruiting list. The Gators, which were No. 1 in early December, but passed by Notre Dame in late December, moved back up to the top spot with the addition of several new recruits and the movement of Kelvin Taylor from a four-star recruit to a five-star recruit.

Gators flip Notre Dame recruit

The Florida Gators picked up athlete Alex Anzalone Thursday, who decommitted from Notre Dame. Anzalone was also once an Ohio State commitment. He is expected to enroll at UF today. Anzalone is projected to play linebacker. he is the 97th ranked player on ESPN's top 150 board.

Rainey arested, waived

Gainesville police charged former Florida Gator running back Chris Rainey with simple battery Thursday. Later in the day, the Pittsburgh Steelers released Rainey, who played in all 16 games this season. This is the second battery arrest for Rainey.

7 enroll early at UF

Seven of the 2013 class of football recruits enrolled early this week at the University of Florida.

The group is headlined by Fred Taylor's son Kelvin, who is the No. 1 rated running back and No. 15 overall rated player in the country, according o ESPN.

Gator Tidbits

With a new recruiting class, we are also having to say farewell to some current Gators who have chosen to transfer from the Gator program. Among them is second string quarterback Jacoby Brissett. After fighting for the starting position right up to the first game of the season, Brissett found himself on the bench for most of the season. He played in 13 career games at Florida as a quarterback, including two starts in 2011, at LSU and at Auburn, and one start in 2012 against Jacksonville State. Brissett completed 41-of-74 career pass attempts for 455 yards with three touchdowns and four interceptions.

 Chris Johnson, from my neck of the woods (Ocala) is also planning on transferring. Johnson, who played safety and running back while at Florida, saw action in all 26 games in his two years on campus, mostly as a special teams’ ace. He totaled 19 career tackles on kickoff and punt coverage and recovered a fumble against South Carolina in 2012 which he returned to the one-yard line. He totaled five carries for 35 yards as a running back in 2012.