On December 5th, Gators’ defensive lineman Gervon Dexter announced his decision to forgo his senior year and declare for the 2023 NFL draft.
“It was a very very very tough decision,” Dexter said during Monday’s media availability. “It lasted a long time, and it just was hard, honestly. But it was a decision I had to make, like I said that was better for me and my family.”
“I talked to Coach Spencer each week about it and kind of got like all of my draft grades back and just weighed that out, and kind of made the best decision for myself and my family,” Dexter said.
The 6-6, 312-pound defensive lineman totaled 120 tackles, 9.5 TFL, 4.5 sacks, two interceptions, four pass deflections, and two fumble recoveries during his three years at Florida. Those stats don’t necessarily jump out of the screen, but his frame, athletic ability, and film got NFL scouts’ attention.
“We go to a draft advisory,” Dexter said. “They submitted it maybe a week before the last game, and I just got it back and that just says, um, a lot of second rounds. I got a second round.”
Dexter said he had people in his ear about the possibility of returning to the Gators for another season.
“Yeah, I did get some of those, some of those back,” Dexter said. “But like I said, I believe I got some of those back because some see the potential of me coming back and being a top-5 or top-10 pick. So yeah, I did get some, I wouldn’t say they told me, ‘Hey, you need to come back.’ I think it was like, ‘If you come back, you could work yourself into a top-5 or top-10 pick’.”
Dexter believes he can push himself into the first round of the NFL draft.
“I mean, sure, you’d love to be top 10,” Dexter said. “But like I say, coming into college, my goal was to be a top 10 pick. I think, in my opinion, that with my athletic ability and, hopefully, I have a great spring and a great combine and push myself into the first round.”
His girlfriend, his mother, Sean Spencer, Billy Napier, and Patrick Toney helped Dexter with his decision.
“I love Gator Nation. It’s been nothing but a pleasure for me, but yeah, it’s my time to go,” Dexter said.
Just one day after Dexter declared for the NFL Draft, he announced that he’ll be playing in the Las Vegas Bowl game.
“Let’s go finish it out in Vegas coach,” Dexter tweeted to defensive line coach Sean Spencer.
“It was never a question,” Dexter said. “We were fortunate enough to want to win six games to get the play in a bowl ball. So, at that moment, I knew I was gonna play in the bowl and finish it.”
Sean Spencer played a huge role in Dexter’s decision to finish the season.
“Me and Coach Spencer kind of talked it out each game of the season,” Dexter said. “Just looked at each position and we just came to an agreement that I was going to play and finish it out.”
“In my opinion, we’re blessed to get that last game,” Dexter said.” So I’m just doing it for the love of the game and for the love of my teammates. I just wanted to finish it off strong with them. Like I said, we won that sixth game, so I felt like it was the right thing to do. This is what Coach Napier preaches all the time. Just be a good teammate. So I’m just trying to be here to be a good teammate and finish it.”
Dexter believes this game is an opportunity for him to showcase his skills ahead of the NFL Draft. He’s also looking forward to stepping up to the plate and filling Ventrell Miller’s leadership role.
“So like I said, I got some grades back and seeing like what some teams thought about me and what I need to work on. So this is an opportunity for me to go out there and work on them and show I can do some of those things,” Dexter said. “Also, it’s just a time for me to just be a better me. Learn to be a better teammate. As you know, Ventrell was one of our leaders, one of our great leaders. So I get to just get an opportunity to kind of lead the team now and kind of see what Ventrell did, and kind of learn from what Ventrell did and kind of do some of those things in a game and take that on with me.”
Gervon Dexter and Richard Gouraige are the only Gators turning pro and playing in the bowl game.