Five Gators make PFF Preseason All-SEC team; one earns All-American honors

Pro Football Focus has released it's Preseason All-American and Conference teams. Which Gators made the list?

As the 150th season of college football is set to kick off next week, outlets are following the suit of the Preseason Coaches All-American honors with teams of their own.

Pro Football Focus is the latest to publish their preseason lists, with an All-American team as well as honors across each conference, specifically.

The Florida Gators had five players honored by PFF on the All-SEC team, and one also named to the All-American squad.

As most could probably guess, junior cornerback C.J. Henderson was named to both lineups. He made the All-American team as an honorable mention at cornerback behind Kristian Fulton (LSU), Paulson Adebo (Stanford), Jeff Gladney (TCU), and Bryce Hall (Virginia).

For the All-SEC team, Henderson was named to the first team as a defensive "flex", which rounded out the honors squad with five defensive backs.

On 36 targeted passes, Henderson allowed just 18 receptions with neither catch allowed going over 41 yards. He didn’t allow a touchdown and broke up six passes with an additional two interceptions.

Junior safety Brad Stewart earned second-team honors following a productive sophomore year in which he started seven games. With two interceptions and defended passes, PFF also credits Stewart with allowing a mere 0.84 yards per coverage snap, and an opposing passer rating of 65.2. They believe Stewart is in line for a big year in 2019.

The remaining three Gators listed were considered honorable mentions: Running back Lamical Perine, defensive end Jabari Zuniga, and linebacker David Reese.

Perine is credited by PFF with 17 missed tackles forced on his 134 attempts last year. They also have the senior workhorse down for 22 runs of 10+ yards and 443 yards recorded after contact - more than half of his season total of 826 rush yards. Yet, he finishes behind D'Andre Swift (Georgia), Larry Rountree (Missouri), Najee Harris (Alabama), and Ke'Shawn Vaughn (Vanderbilt).

Zuniga appears to not catch the eye of PFF as he does Gators fans and other media outlets, as they listed him as a sixth-round prospect for the 2020 NFL Draft in their preseason draft guide. He made the squad behind Marlon Davidson (Auburn), Darrell Taylor (Tennessee), Anfernee Jennings (Alabama), and Michael Divinity Jr. (LSU).

PFF mentioned in their guide that they are waiting to see Zuniga play at a high level against SEC competition, but also believe that that could happen in 2019 following his 36 QB pressures, 12.8% pass-rush win rate, 24 defensive stops, and 6.5% run stop rate.

Finally, Reese II is an honorable mention behind Dylan Moses (Alabama), Tae Crowder (Georgia), Erroll Thompson (Mississippi State), and Cale Garrett (Missouri). Reese ranks as the third-best returning coverage linebacker (min. 200 coverage snaps) with a grade of 70.5.

Do you agree with PFF's analysis? Did any Gators players get snubbed? Leave your opinion in the comment section below.