Jake Slaughter

Jake Slaughter (born December 12, 2002)^[1] is an American football center for the Florida Gators.

Jake Slaughter

Florida Gators – No. 66
Position	Center
Class	Redshirt Senior
Personal information
Born:	(2002-12-12) December 12, 2002 (age 22)[1] Ocala, Florida, U.S.
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight	308 lb (140 kg)
Career history
College	Florida (2021–present)
High school	Trinity Catholic (Ocala, Florida)
Career highlights and awards
First-team All-American (2024) First-team All-SEC (2024)
Stats at ESPN

Early life and high school

Slaughter attended Trinity Catholic High School in Ocala, Florida. He was rated as a three-star recruit and held offers from schools such as Florida, Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech, West Virginia, Arkansas and Utah.^[2] Slaughter initially committed to play college football for the Florida State Seminoles before flipping his commitment to play for the in-state rivals Florida Gators.^[3]

College career

Slaughter took a redshirt season in 2021, only appearing in one game for the Gators.^[4] In 2022, he appeared in all 13 games, mostly on special teams.^[5] In 2023, Slaughter appeared in all 12 games for Florida, while getting his first time as a starter, making eight starts at center over 622 total snaps.^[6]

Heading into 2024, Slaughter was named a Team Captain. In 2024, Slaughter started all 13 games for the Gators and earned first-team all-SEC and first-team All-American honors.^[6] Slaughter helped lead an in-season turnaround from 4-5 to 8-5, allowing only a single sack and quarterback hit over 800 snaps.^[7]

Slaughter made the decision to return to Florida for his final year of eligibility^[8], leading the drive for other Gator offensive linesmen to return to the program.^[9] Ahead of the 2025 season, Slaughter was named the best returning offensive player in the SEC by PFF.^[10] He was also named to the preseason All-American watchlist and Outland Trophy watchlist.