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NFL Draft Profile: DE Jabari Zuniga

With only about a month left before the 2020 NFL draft, Gators Territory continues to profile each of the Gators' draft prospects.

The Gator who received the second-highest prospect grade at the combine is talented pass rusher, Jabari Zuniga.

The defensive lineman Jabari Zuniga totaled 118 tackles (54 solo) and 18.5 sacks during his time at Florida.

Zuniga came to Florida in 2015 after playing just one season of football in high school. In his first season he redshirted to study the game and workout. But the next season, he appeared in all 13 games and started three. In his debut against UMass, he recorded four solo tackles and two sacks in the Gators 24-7 win. He went on to total 25 tackles (18 solo) and five sacks that year and receiver Coaches’ Second Team All-SEC honors.

In 2017, Zuniga played in 10 games and started six. He totaled 34 tackles (12 solo) and four sacks in those 10 games and ranked second on the team in sacks behind Cece Jefferson. However, this was the season that he began to struggle a bit with injury. It’s likely that he would have started more games in this season had he not injured his ankle that held him out of several games.

It wasn’t until 2018 that Zuniga’s starting position became permanent. He started all 13 games and put up the best numbers of his career. He recorded 45 tackles (17 solo) and 6.5 sacks to become one of the most important names on Florida’s roster. He and Jachai Polite partnered up to become the first pair of Gators with at least 11 tackles for loss in a season since Jon Bullard, Antonio Morrison and Jarrad Davis did it in 2015. In Florida’s third game of the season against Colorado State, Zuniga was named SEC Defensive Lineman of the week after a 5 tackle, 2.5 sack performance that helped put the Gators back in the win column.

In his final season with the Gators, the injury bug, unfortunately, crawled back around. After being named to the Preseason First Team All-SEC, Zuniga endured a high ankle sprain and appeared in only six games and started only five. He ended the season with 14 tackles (7 solo) and three sacks, but in combination with his past seasons, that was still enough to earn him an invite to the NFL Combine.

At the combine he earned a 6.31 prospect grade, categorizing him as someone who will be a starter within the first two seasons of his NFL career. Based on that number, he’s just outside of the top ten defensive linemen at number eleven.

Analysis by NFL analyst Lance Zierlein at the combine describes Zuniga as having “boogeyman qualities” that could be used to spring upon unsuspecting offenses but his battle with injury is an obvious concern.

His fast pursuit, athletic frame and toughness are all noted as his strengths but his listed weaknesses are somewhat concerning. Among them are no definitive positional fit, below-average instincts and late activation that turns sacks into pressures.

Taking those factors into consideration, expect Zuniga to be a mid-to-late second-round or third-round pick in the draft on April 23-25 in Las Vegas.

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