GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Senior center Jake Slaughter has been tabbed to a third preseason watch list with the nomination for the 2025 Lombardi.

The Lombardi Award, named after NFL head coach Vince Lombardi, is presented to the college football lineman who demonstrates exceptional performance on the field and embodies the character Vince Lombardi emulated throughout his life. After Lombardi’s sudden death due to cancer, the award was created in 1970 to help celebrate the values that he held and to help act as a way to raise money for the advancement of cancer research programs.

Slaughter served as the Gators starting center for all 13 games in the 2024 season. As their center, Slaughter led the team with 800 offensive snaps and had a 83.9 pass block grade, a 81.1 offense grade and a 79.0 block grade according to Pro Football Focus. Slaughter led the team in all three categories and was even ranked fifth nationally among centers for his offense grade and seventh in the country for his run block grade.   

To be chosen as a candidate for the Lombardi Award, the athletes must be a linebacker, cannot come out of the backfield and be a lineman that sets up no further than 10 yards from the ball at the time of the snap. The watch list will be narrowed down to a group of 12 semifinalists in early November and then to a group of four finalists in late November. The winner of the award will be named on Dec. 9, 2025.

Click here for more information about the Lombardi Award and a complete list of their award nominees.