Florida’s Teez Tabor named First Team All-SEC, six Gators on Second Team

Florida cornerback Teez Tabor was named to the coaches’ and Associated Press voters’ All-SEC First Teams on Tuesday, the league announced.

The selection is Tabor’s second consecutive All-SEC First Team nod, putting him in elite company in program history. Tabor joins Lito Sheppard, Keiwan Ratliff, and Vernon Hargreaves III — named to the All-SEC First Team in all three of his seasons at Florida — as Gators defensive backs with consecutive All-SEC First Team selections this millennium.

This means Tabor has done something that Joe Haden and Janoris Jenkins, both of whom have signed NFL contracts worth in excess of $60 million, did not do at Florida.

Of course, some would argue that Tabor’s opposite, Quincy Wilson, is actually better than the flashier star. The SEC’s coaches disagree, as Wilson was named one of Florida’s six Second Teamers along with defensive tackle Caleb Brantley, linebacker Jarrad Davis, offensive lineman Martez Ivey, and punter Johnny Townsend. Associated Press voters tabbed safety Marcus Maye to the Second Team, as well.

Tabor, Wilson, and Brantley are all juniors, and widely expected to forgo their senior seasons and enter the 2017 NFL Draft, where they should be picked within the first few rounds. Davis and Maye, both seniors, will enter the draft, and are also expected be chosen early.

Ivey, a sophomore, will return to Florida in 2017, and Townsend, a redshirt sophomore, is unlikely to leave early for the NFL — though that’s actually not without precedent for a punter. Townsend is Walter Football’s No. 3 punter in the 2018 NFL Draft class.