PFF Considers Florida's Jake Slaughter Among Nation's Top Returning iOL

Pro Football Focus believes Florida center Jake Slaughter is one of the top interior offensive linemen returning to college football in 2024.

Photo: Florida center Jake Slaughter; Credit: Zach Goodall

As Florida mends its offensive line following a regressed performance in 2023 compared to the year prior, it returns at least one contributor worth building around in the opinion of Pro Football Focus.

That blocker is rising redshirt junior center Jake Slaughter. PFF analyst Max Chadwick named Slaughter among the top 10 interior offensive linemen returning to college football in 2024, awarding him the No. 8 spot on the list following his breakout 2023 campaign. 

Best Returning Interior Offensive Lineman for the 2024 Season💪

(Via: @MaxChadwickCFB) pic.twitter.com/qgqeqoifbj

— PFF College (@PFF_College) February 28, 2024

On PFF's 1-to-100-point grading scale, Slaughter earned good marks across the board amidd his first season of meaningful action: 78.9 in run-blocking, 78.4 in pass-blocking and 77.8 overall. He allowed two sacks and nine quarterback pressures over 328 reps in pass protection.

Both sacks came in his debut start, versus Utah in Week 1. 

Slaughter, a product of local Ocala (Fla.) Trinity Catholic, filled the role to begin the season in place of tenured starter Kingsley Eguakun, who suffered a high-ankle spring during Florida's fall training camp.

Eguakun tried multiple times to return to action but was ultimately limited to four starts in 2023 as the injury nagged, opening the door for Slaughter to assume first-team duties.

"I would consider Slaughter a starter at this point," head coach Billy Napier said on Oct. 25, although it was Eguakun who started Florida's next game, against Georgia. "I’ve got a ton of respect for how Jake’s played as of late. We’ve developed some depth there that I think will be beneficial for our team.” 

With Eguakun now in the middle of the NFL Draft process, Slaughter enters the 2024 campaign as Florida's incumbent starting center, with 11 starts on the offensive line, 597 offensive snaps and 26 total appearances logged in his career to date. 

His anticipated competition for the gig is redshirt freshman Roderick Kearney, a consensus top-100 prospect from the class of 2023. Formerly a guard, Florida moved Kearney to center upon his enrollment and has developed him at the position since. 

"He's going to be a great player," Gators offensive line coach Rob Sale said about Kearney last offseason. "[He] does everything the right way. He's tough, comes from a great family, which now he's a product of the way he was raised. But he's going to be a great center for us." 

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