Florida Trending For Elite In-State Defensive Prospect originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

The Florida Gators have officially thrown their hat into the race for 2026 four-star defensive lineman Kendall Guervil. 

On3’s Blake Alderman predicted Florida to win the race for Guervil on Monday. The defensive lineman will be picking between Florida, the Florida State Seminoles, and the Texas Longhorns on Wednesday. 

Florida already has the advantage of Guervil being in the same state, as he is a native of Fort Myers, Florida. 

He comes in at 6-foot-4.5, 315 pounds. 

Adding Guervil would give the Gators three defensive linemen from the 2026 class. Florida already has commitments from four-star defensive lineman JaReylan McCoy and three-star defensive lineman Jamir Perez. 

2026 defensive line recruit Kendall Guervil with Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier. 247Sports

The prospect is the No. 12 defensive lineman in the On3 Industry Rankings. 

The On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine believes the race is between Florida and Texas. The Gators are leading at 63.4%, with Texas in second at 34.5%. Florida State has less than a one percent chance of landing the recruit. 

Florida’s 2026 class is highlighted by four-star cornerback CJ Bronaugh, four-star receiver Marquez Daniel, McCoy and four-star receiver Justin Williams. 

The Gators recently had Guervil in town for an official visit on June 13. He has also taken official visits with Florida State (May 30), Texas (June 20), and the Georgia Bulldogs (June 6). 

Guervil is one of many good pieces of recruiting news Florida has received lately. The Gators were one of four finalists for four-star defensive lineman Preston Carey. 

The program is also making good headway with five-star offensive tackle Kennedy Brown from the 2027 class. Brown is the top offensive tackle for his class. 

Related: Urban Meyer Makes Florida Gators Prediction Ahead of 2025

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 30, 2025, where it first appeared.