Four Gators received invites to the Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama on February 1st. Wide receiver Chimere Dike, linebacker Shemar James, and defensive lineman Cam Jackson will play for the American Team while punter Jeremy Crawshaw will play for the National Team.
With practices underway on Tuesday, Gator Country caught up with Cam Jackson to discuss the 2024 season, his 2025 NFL Draft stock, and the future of Florida’s program.
Florida’s defense saw a significant turnaround in the 2024 season, allowing just 13 points per game across the final four games after allowing 31 points per game through the first eight games. The turnaround happened during Florida’s first bye week, which head coach Billy Napier claims was one of the more competitive open weeks he’s ever been a part of.
“I’ll probably say when we lost to Miami, that was a wakeup call for us, just going into that bye week before we played Tennessee, everybody was just competitive going out there to practice, competing every day, just pushing everybody to their limit,” Jackson said on Florida’s defensive turnaround. “When Tennessee came around, we know we had go out there and show that Gator standard, the Gator defense, and that’s what we did the rest of the season.”
Jackson confirmed the prior reports that Florida simplified their defense during the bye week. With the help of defensive line coach Gerald Chatman and co-defensive coordinator Ron Roberts, Florida relied less on stunts and simply let them play ball along the defensive line.
“Coach Chatman, he had a little say so in the defense. Coach Roberts, he came in as defensive coordinator and he really let us go, instead of doing a lot of stunts, he let us play ball, and I feel like that was good, because that’s what I like to do anyway, I like to just attack,” Jackson said on Florida simplifying the defense.
“That’s really what it was, just go play ball,” Jackson added. “They was calling the plays and we was running it. It was basically like we playing backyard football again, like just go. We just did our job and we took care of business.”
Jackson flashed in one on one’s during Tuesday’s afternoon practice, showing explosiveness off the line of scrimmage and violent hands, something NFL scouts wanted to see out of him this week.
“Just effort and pass rush, I feel like I showed that a lot today,” Jackson said. “This is day one, still have more work to do, just have fun with it.”
The 6’6 1/2, 339-pound defensive tackle told Gator Country he’s receiving a ‘middle round’ grade for the 2025 NFL Draft.
Florida’s defensive turnaround had a lot to do with the play of Caleb Banks and Tyreak Sapp down the stretch, who combined for 11.5 sacks, 20 tackles for loss, and three forced fumbles in the 2024 season.
“Caleb [Banks] and [Tyreak] Sapp, they going to be big parts of the defense for sure,” Jackson said on Florida’s defense next season. “You got guys like Micah and D’Antre Robinson who stepped up a lot last season, they helped us win a lot of games too. I’m just ready to see what those guys gonna do. I feel like Caleb [Banks] and [Tyreak] Sapp for sure are going to have a great season and after the season I believe them guys could be first round draft picks.”
Jackson also spoke highly of Gators’ quarterback DJ Lagway, claiming he thinks he’s the No.1 QB in the country in 2025.
“DJ, he’s a humble kid, he just wants to play ball and I’m ready to see him in action,” Jackson said on Lagway. ” I’ve been seeing a lot on social media they got him ranked like No.3 in the country right now, I feel like he’s No.1 if you ask me. When the season comes around, he’s going to show a lot of people what he can do.”
Gator Country will be back at senior bowl practices tomorrow, so stay tuned for more exclusive interviews.