Two Florida Gators Stars Named as Early All-American Picks

The Florida Gators had two offensive stars named to On3's Way-Too-Early All-American Team

Harrison Smajovits | Feb 25, 2025

Two Gators are seen as All-American honors worthy / Kyle Lander, Gators Illustrated

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Two members of the Florida Gators offense have been predicted to make the All-American Team. On3’s Ari Wasserman selected quarterback DJ Lagway and center Jake Slaughter to his way-too-early All-American Team.

I thought this was pretty easy. Where was I wrong? https://t.co/mbTRDbGE1H
— Ari Wasserman (@AriWasserman) February 25, 2025

The All-American honor is one that both players have grown familiar with. Slaughter was named AP First-Team All-American back in January. Slaughter is just the third center in school history to claim a first-team All-American honor from one of the five current NCAA-recognized publications and the first since Maurkice Pouncey in 2009.

In mid-January, he received his All-American slab in front of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

Along with this honor, he made the AP’s All-SEC Team, ESPN’s All-American Team and PFF’s All-American First Team.

Slaughter returns for his fifth and final year with the Gators.

Lagway came into his freshman year as the quarterback of the future. However, the future came sooner than expected when Graham Mertz suffered a torn ACL in the 23-17 loss to Tennessee. Lagway came in and apart from the Texas game, which he also missed due to injury, he started the rest of the way. Lagway also started the win over Samford since Mertz was out due to a concussion.

In every game that Lagway started and finished, the Gators won. The only loss that came when he was the starter was the tight game against Georgia that saw him go down with a hamstring injury.

Lagway finished with 1,915 passing yards and 12 passing touchdowns to nine interceptions. He completed 59.5% of his passes. His best game against an FBS opponent arguably came in the Gasparilla Bowl against Tulane. He threw a career-high 305 passing yards and completed 62.9% of his passes. He was named Gasparilla Bowl MVP for his efforts.

His short time as quarterback earned him ESPN Freshman All-American, 247Sports True Freshman All-American, 247Sports True Freshman All-American and PFF True Freshman All-American.

Lagway enters his sophomore season looking to bring the Gators back to their old heights.