Taylor, Polite Chosen on Day 2 of 2019 NFL Draft
Friday, April 26, 2019 | Football
The Gators had multiple players selected in the first three rounds for the fifth-straight year
NASHVILLE – Former Gators Jawaan Taylor (OL) and Jachai Polite (DL) were both selected on day 2 of the 2019 NFL Draft on Friday night. This marks the fifth-straight season that multiple Gators have been selected in the first three rounds.
Taylor was selected in the second round by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the 35th overall pick, while the New York Jets chose Polite with the 68th overall pick in the third round.
"It is a great feeling," said Taylor after his selection. "I am thankful Jacksonville gave me this opportunity. I have been dreaming about this my entire life and I am going to give them everything I've got.
Polite became the 24th Florida defensive lineman selected in the NFL Draft over the past 20 years. That mark is tied for first in the country with Alabama (24).
UF has now had at least one pick in every NFL Draft since 1952, the longest streak in the SEC.
Gators 2019 NFL Draft Notes
Jawaan Taylor – Jacksonville Jaguars, 2nd Round (No. 35th overall)
What's Out There?
Jachai Polite – New York Jets, Third Round (No. 68 overall)
What's Out There?
Taylor was selected in the second round by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the 35th overall pick, while the New York Jets chose Polite with the 68th overall pick in the third round.
"It is a great feeling," said Taylor after his selection. "I am thankful Jacksonville gave me this opportunity. I have been dreaming about this my entire life and I am going to give them everything I've got.
Polite became the 24th Florida defensive lineman selected in the NFL Draft over the past 20 years. That mark is tied for first in the country with Alabama (24).
UF has now had at least one pick in every NFL Draft since 1952, the longest streak in the SEC.
Gators 2019 NFL Draft Notes
- Florida has had the third most first and second round picks since 2008.
- Alabama – 46
- Ohio State – 33
- Florida – 26
- Florida State – 23
- LSU – 22
- USC – 22
- Clemson – 19
- Notre Dame – 19
- Missouri – 15
- North Carolina – 15
- Polite is the 24th Florida defensive lineman selected in the NFL Draft over the past 20 years. That mark is tied with Alabama for the most and the Gators rank ahead of LSU (23), Clemson (22), Florida State (21), Ohio State (20), Miami (18) and Tennessee (17).
- In addition, UF has had a DL selected in every draft this decade and Polite is the 12th picked during that span. That total ranks third in the nation and trails Alabama (16) and Clemson (13). With that, Ohio State (11), Michigan (10), Florida State (8), LSU (8), Oklahoma (8), Miami (7) and Penn State (7) all sit behind UF.
- The Gators had multiple players selected in the first three rounds for the fifth-straight year. That is the longest streak since its streak of eight years from 1997-2004
- At least one Florida player has been selected in every NFL Draft since 1952, the longest streak in SEC history.
- Jacksonville has now drafted 11 Gators, most recently selecting Taylor in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
Jawaan Taylor – Jacksonville Jaguars, 2nd Round (No. 35th overall)
- 2018: Declared for the NFL Draft following the season… Played in all 13 games and started 12 at right tackle… Florida's offensive line allowed just 18 sacks over the course of the entire season, which ranked 20th in the country and third among SEC teams… Garnered Second Team All-SEC honors from Athlon Sports… Named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll.
- 2017: Played and started in all 11 games… Started the first nine games at right tackle and the final two contests of the season at left tackle… He and Martez Ivey were the only two Florida offensive linemen to start each game.
- 2016: Played in all 13 games throughout the season and started 12 at right tackle… Was the only Florida freshman to play on the offensive line… Garnered Freshman All-America honors by ESPN.com, FWAA and Pro Football Focus… Selected to the Freshman All-SEC Team by the leagues Coaches' and Gridiron Now… Member of ESPN All-SEC Bowl Team.
What's Out There?
- Check out all the social media buzz around Jawaan Taylor being selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Think @jawaan_taylor74 and his family are excited to be headed to #DUUUVAL? pic.twitter.com/l8GLB4Fvvf
— #DUUUVAL (@Jaguars) April 26, 2019
.@jawaan_taylor74 is heading to #DUUUVAL#GatorMade pic.twitter.com/LScFeWDJEF
— Gators Football (@GatorsFB) April 26, 2019
Staying in the state of Florida, welcome @jawaan_taylor74!#DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/RzyBuXyWah
— #DUUUVAL (@Jaguars) April 26, 2019
Jachai Polite – New York Jets, Third Round (No. 68 overall)
- Finished his career with 78 tackles, 26.5 tackles-for-loss, 15.5 sacks, eight forced fumbles and four pass break ups in 32 games played… Became the fourth Gator in history with at least eight career forced fumbles, joining Clifford Charlton (15 –1984-87), Guss Scott (11 – 2000-03), and Alex Brown (9 – 1997-2001).
- 2018: Declared for the NFL Draft following the season… Appeared in all 13 games and started five… Recorded 45 tackles on the season and led the team with 17.5 TFL, 11 sacks and six forced fumbles… Led the FBS and tied Charlton's 1986 single-season school record with six forced fumbles… One of two players in the country to record at least five forced fumbles and 10-plus sacks… Fell just 0.5 tackles-for-loss shy of tying Alex Brown's 1999 season for the 10th-highest single-season total in school history… He and his teammate Jabari Zuniga became the first pair of Gators with at least 11 tackles-for-loss in a season since the trio of Jon Bullard (17.5), Antonio Morrison (12.0) and Jarrad Davis (11.0) all reached that mark in 2015... They are also the first pair of Gators defensive linemen to reach that total in a season since Jaye Howard (12.0) and Justin Trattou (11.0) did it in 2010… Earned SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week honors following Florida's win at Mississippi State after he recorded three tackles, two sacks and one pass breakup… Garnered Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week following UF's win at FSU when he totaled six tackles, 3.5 tackles-for-loss and 2.5 sacks… Named a Semifinalist for the Bednarik Award Semifinalist… Picked up First Team All-SEC honors from the league's Coaches, AP, Athlon Sports, ESPN and Phil Steele… Garnered Third Team All-America accolades by Phil Steele… Earned Second Team All-America honors by the AP.
- 2017: Played in seven games and recorded four starts prior to suffering a season-ending injury against Georgia… Totaled 22 tackles, 5.5 tackles-for-loss, two sacks, one forced fumble and six quarterback hurries… Ranked sixth on the team in tackles-for-loss and was one of three players to force a fumble… Registered a career-high six tackles in the season-opener against Michigan… Had one sack, one forced fumble and three quarterback hurries against Vanderbilt.
- 2016: Played in 12 games throughout the season as a reserve defensive lineman… Totaled 11 tackles, 3.5 tackles-for-loss, 2.0 sacks, one quarterback hurry and one forced fumble… In his collegiate debut against UMass, Polite recorded one tackle… Recorded a season-best two tackles against Missouri, Alabama and Iowa… Had his best game on the season in UF's SEC opener against UK as he tallied his first-career sack and forced fumble.
What's Out There?
- Check out all the social media buzz around Jachai Polite being selected by the New York Jets.
With the #68 overall pick in the 2019 @NFLDraft, the @nyjets select DE Jachai Polite! #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/PSH9tsvFA8
— NFL (@NFL) April 27, 2019
QBs beware.
— #TakeFlight (@nyjets) April 27, 2019
📰 https://t.co/gnbeOHXnFP#NFLDraft | #TakeFlight pic.twitter.com/lSBhyRGEiS
Jachai Polite won 18.0% of his pass-rushes a season ago – and 10 of his 40 pressures were sacks. #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/z3N3nBb4A8
— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) April 27, 2019
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