Florida Gators get positive news from a down season with offensive star named finalist for prestigious award

Senior center Jake Slaughter has been named a finalist for the Rimington Award, given to the best center in the country.

Tyler Forness — NFL & College Football News Writer
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Oct 11, 2025; College Station, Texas, USA; Florida Gators offensive lineman Jake Slaughter (66) sets the ball during the first half against the Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field.
Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

The Florida Gators got a big win on Monday morning when senior center Jake Slaughter was named one of three finalists for the prestigious Rimington Award, which is given to the best center in the nation.

Slaughter earned himself a spot as a finalist for the award after being named on a 40-player preseason list. He will be competing with Iapani Laloulu of the Oregon Ducks and Logan Jones of the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Jake Slaughter named finalist for Rimington Award

The Rimington Award has been around since 2000, when retired sportswriter Syd Russell realized that there wasn’t an award for a center.

“While researching for a series of articles on college football awards in 2000, retired San Francisco Examiner sportswriter Syd Russell interviewed former Nebraska center Dave Rimington about being the only two-time winner of the Outland Trophy. 

“During the discussion, Russell noted that there was a college football award for every position except center – and it was then that the idea for the Rimington Trophy was born.

“Russell’s argument for naming the Trophy after Rimington was simple: look at his credentials. In addition to winning the prestigious Outland Trophy in consecutive years, he was named a first-team All-American center in 1981 and 1982. In his final year with Nebraska, he was named the Big Eight Conference “Offensive Player of the Year” and would later see his jersey retired among Cornhusker legends at Memorial Stadium.”

Slaughter has put together a good season. He started every game for the Gators and was a standout player. Per Pro Football Focus, Slaughter allowed just four pressures and one sack on 421 pass blocking reps, also posting an 87.1 grade, his best among all phases.

If Slaughter wins the award later this week, he will become the second Florida Gator to do so, after Maurkice Pouncey won in 2009.

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