GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Recruiting has been a key focus for Dan Mullen since he arrived, as Florida's talent level has clearly been subpar to SEC East rival Georgia, something that's been readily apparent in the current three-game losing streak in the series.

One easy way to improve recruiting? Land more of the state's top prospects.

In the five recruiting cycles prior to the 2020 class, Florida had landed an average 6.2 of the state's Top 50 prospects per class. When taking into account players that actually made it to campus, that number dipped to just 5.4 per class.

With the 2020 class, Mullen landed 10 of the state's Top 50 prospects, including the top overall player in the state in five-star defensive tackle Gervon Dexter.

"I think it's huge," Mullen said on Wednesday. "You look, we are the University of Florida. This is the flagship school of the state, and this is where kids in the state want to come play. They want to represent the state of Florida and play at their home university. So I think that's so important for us to have those top players come here and play."

That's not to say Florida was perfect, either.

There were a handful of prospects the Gators would have loved to have, like Clemson running back signee Demarkcus Bowman or Alabama defensive tackle signee Timothy Smith or Miami safety signee Avantae Williams.

Williams was a prospect Florida would have loved to land on National Signing Day, but even so Mullen was pleased with what UF did at the position.

"I mean, I like him. I thought this was a really good place for him to be for the type of kid he is," Mullen said when asked how big a gut punch Williams signing with Miami was. "I think he's a really good person and like him as a kid, and I always wish guys the best. I think we had one of the top defensive back signing classes already in the country, so really not that much. It would have been kind of a nice addition to that at the end, but I think if you look at who we brought in in this DB class, I think we have one of the top DB classes already in the country, so it's not that big a deal."

The overall picture, not just one individual recruit, is more important. And Florida took significant steps toward locking down more of the state this cycle.

If that continues going forward the Gators will be in good shape.

"You go back and you look at the 2006 and 2008 National Championship teams, there were a lot of guys from the state of Florida on that roster," Mullen said. "We still nationally recruit, but a lot of the top players in Florida back then were always deciding to come to school here, and it's great that we're kind of building that again back into the future."