Four Gators Named to Preseason All-SEC Teams

Four Florida Gators have been named to the preseason All-SEC teams, which were selected by media members during the 2024 SEC Media Days in Dallas.

Florida Gators running back Montrell Johnson Jr. was named All-SEC by members of the media. / Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun / USA

Four Florida Gators have been named to the preseason All-SEC teams, which were selected by media members during the 2024 SEC Media Days in Dallas. 

Headlining the group is senior running back Montrell Johnson Jr., who was named to the conference’s second team. A veteran presence, Johnson Jr. has rushed for at least 800 yards in all three of his collegiate seasons including the last two with Florida. 

After splitting carries with now-Georgia running back Trevor Etienne, who was named to the first-team, Johnson Jr. expects a much larger workload in his final season. 

“I expect to get the ball more coming into the future this next season. I'm not too worried about it, because I feel like I can hold the load on my own and just going out there and making sure I play mistake-free football,” he said in Dallas. 

Johnson was also one of eight Gators named to Phil Steele’s preseason All-SEC teams, in which he was named first-team.

Three Gators were named to the league’s third-team with two coming on special teams. Senior corner Jason Marshall Jr. is Florida’s lone defensive player across the three teams, and he is joined on the third-team by punter Jeremy Crawshaw and kicker Trey Smack. 

Marshall Jr., like Johnson Jr., delayed his entrance into the NFL Draft in favor of one more season with the Gators. As the most-veteran defensive back in the room, defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong and new secondary coach Will Harris have previously emphasized the importance of Marshall Jr.’s return.

“Jason was probably as good of a Christmas gift that I got, you know what I mean?” Armstrong said during the Gators’ spring camp. “You know, working to that process of the climate in college football, the opportunity to play in the National Football League… 

“And it just so happens Jason's a really good football player, too. I can't put words to describe the job that Will (Harris) has done with Jason, the urgency that he's brought out of him. You know, the last practice before we got on spring break, he made a huge play and punched the ball out. I think Jason can be as good as he wants to be.” 

Marshall Jr. has nearly 2,000 snaps across three seasons with Florida. 

Finally, the Gators’ dynamic duo on special teams in Smack and Crawshaw compile two of the seven special teams spots on the third-team. 

Smack enters his third year at Florida after a decent 2023 campaign, which saw him named a Lou Groza Award semifinalist after going 17-21 on field goal attempts and a perfect 29-29 on extra points.

Crawshaw, meanwhile, returns for his fifth and final season with Florida and third as the starter. In 2023, he set career and single season records with a 46.7 yards-per-punt average and a 48.9 yards-per-attempt average. 

He was also named to the AP All-SEC second team and to Phil Steele’s preseason All-SEC first team.