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Florida defensive end Jabari Zuniga missed most of his senior season, but that didn’t stop him from being a Day 2 selection in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Zuniga came off the board with the No. 79 overall pick, going to the New York Jets. He’s the second UF defensive lineman drafted in the third round in as many years (Jachai Polite) and the third in five years (Jonathan Bullard).

Zuniga, a fifth-year senior, finished his career with 118 tackles (54 solo), 34.5 tackles for loss and 18.5 sacks in 42 games played (27 starts). In 2018, he and Polite became the first pair of UF defensive linemen with at least 11 tackles-for-loss in a season since Jaye Howard (12.0) and Justin Trattou (11.0) did it in 2010.

Zuniga shined in the 2019 season opener against Miami, making 6 tackles, 3 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. But he suffered a high-ankle sprain in Week 3 against Kentucky and missed seven of Florida’s 13 games last year.

Despite the injury, Zuniga doesn’t regret returning for his senior season.

“Not at all because one of my main goals in coming back was to graduate, that was my biggest goal,” Zuniga told 1010XL in January. “But to also get to spend another year with the team and to build that extra camaraderie and get to spend time with the fellas, I don’t regret it at all.

“It was extremely frustrating because I wanted to come back and help my team win. I wasn’t able to do that, but we had a great team and a great group of guys. I just feel like the team came together and they put on a show the whole season.”