5 Florida Gators make the Senior Bowl Top300 list

Five Florida Gators were named to the Panini Senior Bowl’s Top 300 watch list on Wednesday. The Gators included on this list of standout upperclassmen include wide receiver J.Michael Sturdivant, defensive lineman Caleb Banks, offensive tackle Austin Barber, edge Tyreak Sapp, and offensive center Jake Slaughter.

The list features only players eligible for the 2026 NFL Draft. You can see the entire Senior Bowl Top 300 list HERE

“We decided to trim our watchlist from 850 to 300 to raise the bar and truly spotlight the top-tier talent across the country,” said Senior Bowl Executive Director Drew Fabianich in a statement. “Our staff has been working rigorously to identify the top talent in this year’s draft class, and the players on this list have stood out so far, but this is just the beginning. This season is the most valuable part of our process, and there is still plenty of football to be played. Our scouts will be on the road every week, tracking how these players perform and who continues to rise.”

More on the Florida Gators included on this list

Sturdivant, a redshirt senior, arrived at Florida from the Transfer Portal. His past stops include two years at Cal and two years at UCLA. Sturdivant’s career numbers in his previous four seasons at the college level are 123 receptions for 13 touchdowns, as well as 1667 receiving yards.

Banks was another transfer addition by the Florida Gators staff in the 2023 cycle. He arrived at UF after spending two seasons at Louisville. Banks has logged 21 starts, but has appeared in 24 games in two seasons at UF. He’s accounted for 40 tackles (9 TFL), 5.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery in his Gators career. Banks has been consistently projected first-round NFL Draft pick in the 2026 draft by several publications. ESPN was the latest to mock Banks as a first-round pick in their latest preseason projections.

Barber signed with the Florida Gators in the 2021 class, but that was under the previous staff. He showed promise as a redshirt freshman, appearing in 13 games with 5 starts at right tackle. Barber moved to left tackle as a redshirt sophomore and accounted for 8 starts that season. Last season, Barber started all 13 games at left tackle. He logged a total of 729 offensive snaps with a run block grade of 70.0 according to PFF.

Slaughter is another huge piece of the Florida Gators’ offensive line. After making 8 starts in the 2023 season, Slaughter started all 13 games for the Gators last season. He led the Gators’ offensive line in snaps with 800 last season. Pro Football Focus graded him as the Gators’ top performer in both pass protection and run blocking, and by season’s end, he was a consensus All-American. Slaughter has continued to get All-American recognition this preseason.

Sapp led the Gators with seven sacks and 13 tackles-for-loss, as well as tying for the team lead with two forced fumbles. His 90.4 PFF grade is the highest among all qualified Florida players. That grade was the eighth highest among all FBS edge rushers, fifth highest among SEC edge rushers. Furthermore, those numbers are the highest of any Florida defender since 2019.

Senior Bowl Top 300 Breakdown

• Total schools represented: 86 schools
• Conference Breakdown: “Power 5” Schools
  • SEC: 109 players
  • Big 10: 68 players
  • ACC: 53 players
  • Big 12: 43 players
• “Group of 5” Breakdown: 19 players
• FCS Breakdown: 5 players
• Total players from “Group of 5” and lower: 24 players
• Most players represented: LSU (14)
• 5 schools with 10 or more players represented: LSU (14), Alabama (13), Ole Miss (10), Oklahoma (10), Penn State (10)
• Total Underclassmen: 53 players