Scouting Florida Gators Safety Commit Xavier Filsaime

The Florida Gators continue to have a productive spring on the recruiting trail as they now hold seven players in the 2024 class.

The latest is an elite safety prospect from McKinney, Texas: Xavier Filsaime, who pledged to UF during Thursday night's Orange and Blur spring game.

Filsaime is a long and lean defensive back that pairs explosiveness with the criteria that head coach Billy Napier and his assistants stress when recruiting potential talent to UF: height, weight and verified speed.

To better understand what the borderline five-star will bring to the table upon arrival in Gainesville, All Gators provides an in-depth scouting report on Filsaime.

Scouting Report: Gators safety commit Xavier Filsaime

Florida defensive backs coach Corey Raymond is one of the college game's most respected recruiters and developers.

Racking up an impressive development resume during his time at LSU — producing multiple first-round prospects and sending a bevy of secondary talent to the NFL — Raymond's significantly impacted Florida's talent acquisition process since he arrived last offseason.

However, Filsaime's alignment with the Gators may be Raymond's biggest splash landing at UF to date from raw talent and caliber of prospect standpoints.

The first thing that pops off Filsaime's tape is the translation of his elite-level track speed to the gridiron.

Posting three sub 10.8 100-meter times (10.52, 10.59, and 10.75) as a sophomore, the dual-sport athlete possesses rare speed for someone of his stature at a long-limbed 6-foot-1, 180 pounds. Showing up when running the ally, Filsaime works downhill in a hurry to make tackles near (or behind) the line of scrimmage. It's also evident when closing on pass catchers when the ball's in the air.

Usually, players with his mixture of speed and burst like to shoulder-check opposing ball carriers at the point of attack rather than bringing their hands together and wrapping up to secure the tackle. 

Filsaime, however, does not have that problem.

When he gets to the impact point, he does a good job shooting his arms through, wrapping up and taking the ball carrier to the ground. That was evident during his impressive 92-tackle junior campaign, where he also forced three fumbles and recovered as many to provide instant momentum swings to the Lions squad. 

Forcing turnovers is a crucial emphasis of new defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong's defense, as it is in most modern defenses. However, the aggressiveness of Armstrong's playcalling to force the issue on opposing offenses bodes well for Filsaime when he gets to Gainesville. 

In coverage, Filsaime can run with receivers down the field due to his top-end speed and seems to diagnose plays well. He reads the QB's eyes, breaks on the receiver or the ball, and is able to break up the pass because of his closing speed and long arms.

He's unpolished from a technical standpoint in man-to-man coverage, allowing instincts to take over at the prep level. As a result, he'll likely align as a zone safety in his early collegiate career, allowing his range and knack for playmaking when working freely on the backend to take over. 

He's similar to current cornerback Ja'Keem Jackson at this point a year ago in that regard, having only played his current position for a year. 

Moving from wide receiver after his sophomore year — in which he totaled 35 catches for 463 yards and two touchdowns — Filsaime still has a long way to go to reach his potential as a piece in the secondary. 

However, his production as a wideout and standout junior season at the safety spot is a major positive for his progression under Raymond's tutelage. In fact, the raw athleticism and versatility he presents as a former pass catcher is another area Raymond covets when targeting talent. 

Since Filsaime is still new to the position, Raymond and Armstrong can mold the talented prospect as they wish. 

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