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Gators name Week-1 captains for season opener

On3 imageby: Keith Niebuhr08/29/25On3Keith
Ja'Kobi-Jackson-Florida-Gators
Florida Gators running back Ja'Kobi Jackson (24) runs with the ball during the first half at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. (Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images)

The Florida Gators on Friday evening named the team’s Week-1 captains for UF’s season opener on Saturday vs. LIU at The Swamp. The honor will go to a trio of seniors — running back Ja’Kobi Jackson, EDGE George Gumbs and long snapper Rocco Underwood.

Jackson is coming off a season in which he finished with 509 rushing yards and shined brightest against the best: 116 yards versus Texas and 74 against Georgia, both top-five opponents. Additionally, he is said to be a vocal leader for the Gators. Jackson and sophomore Jadan Baugh are expected to be the team’s two top ball carriers entering the season.

“I honestly feel like [UF’s running backs rotation] does not have a disadvantage at all. Because me and Ja’Kobi, we look at it as whoever’s in the game, we’re going to do the job, and whoever’s behind us coming in afterwards, they’re going to do the job,” Baugh said. “And I feel like, that’s a mentality in our room. But becoming a lot better, me and Ja’Kobi got close. Like very close. You know, being able to just be on the sideline. We rock-paper-scissors shoot sometimes, to see who’s going to get in. So I think that brings us a lot closer.”

Gumbs was second on the squad in 2024 with 5.0 sacks despite only making three starts at the “OLB/Jack EDGE” position. He often was behind Jack Pyburn and T.J. Searcy but both of those players have transferred and Gumbs now is likely to have a bigger role. Gumbs began his career as a walk-on receiver at Northern Illinois and was still raw as a defender when he arrived in Gainesville last year as a transfer.

Now, he’s a lot more polished.

“My favorite rush move? Maybe a cross chop, a jab cross-chop,” Gumbs said. “That’s one. It’s a nice little jab-step and cross-chop.
But I’ve got plenty of moves, it depends on who I’m playing. I could go power, swipe, spin. I could do a lot of the moves.”

Underwood won the Patrick Mannelly Award last year, which goes to the country’s best long snapper. Now a senior, he has a chance to become the first two-time winner. He recently was named to the 2025 Patrick Mannelly Award watch list.

Underwood was a Phil Steele First-Team All-American in 2024 and second-team All-SEC pick. In July, he garnered second-team All-SEC honors from reporters at SEC Media Day.

The Gators plan to name different captains each game.

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