Nation's No. 1 tight end Kent Taylor commits to Florida

Land O'Lakes (Fla.) standout Kent Taylor, the nation's No. 1 tight end and No. 34 recruit overall, verbally committed to Florida today in a press conference at his school.

Pursued by schools around the country, the 6-foot-5, 220-pound Taylor selected the Gators over Penn State, Florida State, and Georgia.

The intense recruiting process seemed to be taxing on Taylor, who still has to wait over four months until he can sign his National Letter of Intent.

National Signing Day is Feb. 1.

"It gets a little tiring," Taylor told MaxPreps last month. "It's crazy how many calls I'll get during a week. But I'm not complaining. It's all good."

Matt Kitchie, Taylor's former coach, believes he has the ability to be a top-flight tight end at the next level.

"I truly believe he has the skills to be an elite type of tight end," Kitchie told MaxPreps over the summer. "A lot of people are comparing him to Greg Olsen. I don't know if he has Olsen's speed, but he has his ability to get open and make people miss."

Taylor's commitment to Florida jumps the Gators from No. 4 to No. 2 in team recruiting rankings, narrowly passing Texas.

Florida's class already boasts three other Top 100 recruits: D.J. Humphries, Matt Jones, and Jessamen Dunker.

Taylor should thrive in Florida's Charlie Weis-led offense, which is friendly to tight ends. Florida remains in the mix for Stefon Diggs and Nelson Agholor. If Will Muschamp can land either (or both) of those in addition to Taylor, the Gators will be bringing to Gainesville some much-needed offensive firepower.

Missing out on Taylor is a blow to Penn State's recruiting class, currently ranked No. 20. The Nittany Lions have some impressive recruits up front on both sides of the ball but lack dynamic threats on offense.