Florida Football left out in the cold of preseason SEC media poll

Florida Football went 5-7 in 2023. As we chronicled last week, you tend to not get the benefit of the doubt in the eyes of the public when you go 5-7, which was preceded by back-to-back 6-7 campaigns.

So with it being the week of SEC Media Days, it wasn't a shock to see the Gators excluded from a media poll picking All-SEC players for the preseason.

Florida Football: No Stars

USA Today conducted an Preseason All-SEC Honors poll with writers from their various SEC based newspapers, and the Gators were shut out. Carson Beck was named preseason player of the year, Kirby Smart was coach of the year, and Cam Coleman was dubbed newcomer of the year.

Diving deeper into the poll, it is understanable why the Gators were completly shut out. At receiver for example, Tre Wilson has been getting a ton of buzz heading into the 2024 season but it would be hard to justify his spot ahead of Luther Burden III and Tre Harris.

Jake Slaughter probably had a case to make it along the offensive line preseason team, but given Florida didn't have a great overall offensive line last year it's easy to see why he was excluded.

Where perception vs reality really came into play was at running back. Former Gator running back Trevor Etienne was given the nod and made the team. Etienne was a dynamic back last year, but Montrell Johnson had more overal yards, more receiving yards, and was a much better pass blocker than Etienne.

One now play for Georgia while one plays for a 5-7 team. So...

Defensively there isn't anyone for the Gators who for sure should have made it. Jason Marshall and Shemar James would be Florida's two best candidates, but Marshall had a down year in 2023 and James had his season cut short thanks to the terrible turf in Jacksonville.