Scouting Report: Gators LB Commit Adarius Hayes

Photo: Adarius Hayes; Credit: Zach Goodall

The Florida Gators added a big piece to their 2024 recruiting class on Saturday via the commitment of four-star linebacker/edge rusher Adarius Hayes from Largo (Fla.) High.

Hayes is a prospect with a who’s who offer list with schools like Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, and Notre Dame among others vying for his services. With the size and versatility to play multiple positions, it’s no wonder he is so highly regarded. 

Join All Gators in the film room to see what makes Hayes such a coveted prospect.

Scouting Report

Before even turning on the tape the first thing that jumps out to you about Hayes is his frame while playing linebacker at the prep level. Standing at 6-foot-4, 210 pounds, he has a college-ready frame as a high school junior when it comes to size and has excellent length. 

His potential for positional versatility is what makes Hayes such an intriguing prospect. At such a size, most recruits are playing with their hand in the dirt of rushing off the edge exclusively. 

Not Hayes, he plays all of his reps from the middle linebacker position, which is where Florida sees him fitting in when he gets on campus and plays it at an extremely high level. However, given his build and athleticism, Hayes could absolutely earn snaps as an edge rusher in the Gators' defense if the coaching staff sees fit.

Hayes can drop into zone coverage while reading the eyes of the quarterback and make plays on the ball while it’s in the air. He trusts his vision and his instincts when diagnosing what is going on in front of him, and because of that, he flies to the football and consistently makes plays.

He shows great range to get from sideline to sideline when running down ball carriers and when he gets to them, he arrives with bad intentions. At his height, Hayes does a solid job of lowering his pad level, keeping his feet underneath him and exploding through the tackle.

Hayes is also excellent as a blitzer, lending credence to the possibility of playing him off the edge in sub-packages, showcasing good timing while disguising his rush and routinely turning speed into power very quickly. He gets skinny through the rush gap to meet running backs at the point of attack, and even bulldozes straight through the offensive line to regularly make plays in the backfield for sacks and tackles for loss.

Hayes finished his junior season with an impressive 121 tackles that included 14 for loss and two interceptions, both of which he returned for touchdowns. 

You can watch Hayes' most recent highlights below. 

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