As 2020 inches closer Gator Country went back over the last 10 seasons of Gator football to develop an all-decade team.
The last 10 seasons have been quite the roller coaster, with more downs than ups but we were determined to field a first and second team on offense and defense. Our defensive list was a lot of fun to make and, oh my goodness, if you could have put all of these guys on one team it might be one of the best defenses ever assembled. The offense wasn’t as fun, but we did that too. Click here to head on over there to check it out.
The criteria we used were that they had to have played at least one season in the decade and that we only consider their contributions to Florida. If a player left and succeeded at a different school, good for them, but that won’t help them on this list. We’re also not considering anything they did at the NFL level for our list, just what they did in orange and blue.
First Team Defense
DE: Dante Fowler
DT: Sharrif Floyd
DT: Dominique Easley
DE: Jon Greenard
LB: Antonio Morrison
LB: Jon Bostic
CB: Vernon Hargreaves
CB: Janoris Jenkins
CB: Chauncey Gardner-Johnson
S: Matt Elam
S: Ahmad Black
Second Team Defense
DE: Jon Bullard
DT: Caleb Brantley
DT: Jaye Howard
DE: Jachai Polite
LB: Jarrad Davis
LB: Jelani Jenkins
CB: Teez Tabor
CB: Quincy Wilson
CB: Brian Poole
S: Keanu Neal
S: Marcus Maye
First Team Specialists
P: Johnny Townsend
K: Caleb Sturgis
PR: Antonio Callaway
KR: Andre Debose
Second Team Specialists:
P: Kyle Christy
K: Eddy Pineiro
PR: Freddie Swain
KR: Antonio Callaway
Defensive end:
This defense is getting after the quarterback, no ifs ands or buts. The four guys on this list have 50 career sacks between them. Putting Greenard over Polite was an internal debate. Polite’s last season saw 11 sacks, more than Greenard, but Greenard was had more of an impact on this defense, in my opinion, that Polite did for the 2018 defense.
Defensive tackles:
Floyd and Easley were the easy picks for the first team. They’re dominant forces, and they were a great pair to watch play together. Caleb Brantley put together a nice career, as did Jaye Howard.
Linebackers:
The linebacker group is also impressive. Antonio Morrison was essentially a four-year starter. He led the Gators in tackles in 2014 (101) and 2015 (103) and 2016. He was a tackling machine and the heart and soul of some defenses that had to carry the water for the offense. Bostic had 57 tackles as a sophomore in 2010 and then bested that with a team-high 94 tackles in 2011. Jarrad Davis was a two-year, full-time starter but played in more than 40 games. Jelani Jenkins came in highly recruited and lived up to his billing.
Cornerbacks:
We decided to go with three cornerbacks instead of three linebackers. It is DBU after all.
Janoris Jenkins was only on the team for one season in this decade but he was the second true freshman cornerback to start a season opener and a Freshman All-American. Vernon Hargreaves is on the other side as the only other All-American cornerback for the Gators and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson starts in the slot. Gardner-Johnson’s contributions weren’t really appreciated until this season when it became apparent that Florida didn’t have anyone to fill the void he left.
The second team doesn’t relent much either. Tabor, Wilson, and Poole all were studs in their own right.
Safety:
Matt Elam might have been the easiest selection but Ahmad Black’s final season (2010) saw 107 tackles and ended with a pick-six in the Outback Bowl. The backups of Keanu Neal and Marcus Maye would also be an All-SEC caliber group.
Specialists:
Johnny Townsend was an easy selection. He has 83 punts, a school record, in 2015 and set numerous other records while at Florida. He was, quite possibly, the offensive MVP in 2013 as a freshman punter. Kyle Christy beats out the younger Townsend. Christy was good as a freshman and great as a sophomore before a rough junior season. He bounced back as a senior.
Caleb Sturgis is our kicker here. Sturgis made 70-of-88 field goal attempts (79.5%) and 130-of-136 extra-point attempts (95.6%). His 70 completed field goals and 88 field goal attempts are both team records.
Pineiro was good. In two seasons he made 38-of-43 (88%) of his field-goal attempts and 56-of-58 extra points.
I saw Jarrad Davis and Keanu Neal on the 2nd team and asked myself, “what in the world is Nick thinking?” Then I looked at the 1st teamers. First team is just loaded at every position. Can’t say I have any disagreements. Maybe David Reese over Jelani, but that would mostly be due to career vs Jelani being a better overall player. I would probably have CJ Henderson as a 2nd team CB over Teez.
Maybe a healthy Zuniga over Jon Bullard. Mainly because when Bullard finally exploded here, it was after his move to DT.
Jarrad Davis on 2nd Team??? C’mon Nick. Of all the LBs he had no weeknesses …and there wasn’t a better leader on the team this decade. Big mistake.
Surprised that Taven Bryan wasn’t included. Although he was a full time starter only one year, during that year he was an unblockable beast. I also would have classified Chauncey Gardner-Johnson as a safety rather than CB, still first team though.
So who do you drop off for Taven?