The Florida Gators have seen at least one of their former football players selected in the NFL draft every year since 1952, which leads the Southeastern Conference and only trails the Michigan Wolverines and USC Trojans, both of whose streaks go back to 1939.
The 2025 NFL draft does not appear to be deviating from the script with at least five alumni lined up to be taken somewhere among the 257 selections available to professional franchises. Among them is cornerback Jason Marshall Jr., who spent all four years in Gainesville after earning a blue-chip rating as a high school prospect.
While arriving in the Swamp as a highly heralded defensive back talent, his tenure with the Orange and Blue was anything but consistent. It certainly did not help that his senior season was cut short by an injury, but despite never truly living up to his top billing, the South Florida product was an important member of Florida’s defensive corps.
Below is a breakdown of Marshall Jr.’s stock heading into the draft in a question-and-answer format exchanged with Packers Wire‘s Brennan Rupp.
What did Marshall mean to Florida’s defense?
Marshall represented seniority and leadership in a DB room that was quite young, especially after the loss of transfer Asa Turner. However, his career in Gainesville can be best described as “underwhelming.”
He arrived as a five-star recruit out of Miami Palmetto but never really lived up to that billing. While he made incremental progress over his tenure with the Gators, it seemed like for every big play he made, there were a few mistakes or simply instances of getting outplayed — the latter of which can happen easily in the SEC — that dulled any luster he might have gotten.
That said, by the time his senior season arrived, he was a grizzled veteran of the collegiate gridiron who undoubtedly had a positive influence on youngsters such as Jordan Castell. It is also worth noting he led the team in pass breakups for two straight years.
What would you say is Marshall’s greatest strength?
His raw talent has carried him these past four years and will continue to bolster him moving forward. He is fast, has some decent ups and size on his side. If you were rolling dice to create a character and landed on his physical attributes, you would take it without question.
What makes Marshall effective in coverage?
To be honest, from what I’ve seen over the years, I would be hesitant to call him “effective” in coverage, given how inconsistent his results are. His frame and strength give him an edge on smaller or similar-sized receivers, and he is smooth in tracing his coverage routes.
But those positives are mitigated by indecisiveness, poor handwork work and weak tackling.
What does Marshall offer in run support?
Continuing on the point of weak tackling, despite his size and quickness, he is disappointingly poor at bringing his man down. He also does not read blocks very well and often finds himself on the wrong side of the field on wide rushing attempts.
So to answer the question: “Not very much, if anything at all.”
If you were an NFL GM, why would you draft Marshall?
If I ran a franchise with a reputation for developing defensive back talent, it would be worth taking a gamble on Marshall as a pure cornerback.
His physical attributes cannot be denied, but the issues that are holding him back are mostly in mindset and discipline. He is still just 22 years old, so there is still some plasticity left in his learning abilities, but you would need a plan/system in place already to accommodate his needs.
He will probably get plucked in the later rounds as a result, but I have no doubt he will be signed as a UDFA if he is not.
Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: NFL draft: Scouting report for Florida Gators CB Jason Marshall Jr.
The Florida Gators have seen at least one of their former football players selected in the NFL draft every year since 1952, which leads the Southeastern Conference and only trails the Michigan Wolverines and USC Trojans, both of whose streaks go back to 1939.
The 2025 NFL draft does not appear to be deviating from the script with at least five alumni lined up to be taken somewhere among the 257 selections available to professional franchises. Among them is cornerback Jason Marshall Jr., who spent all four years in Gainesville after earning a blue-chip rating as a high school prospect.
While arriving in the Swamp as a highly heralded defensive back talent, his tenure with the Orange and Blue was anything but consistent. It certainly did not help that his senior season was cut short by an injury, but despite never truly living up to his top billing, the South Florida product was an important member of Florida’s defensive corps.
Below is a breakdown of Marshall Jr.’s stock heading into the draft in a question-and-answer format exchanged with Packers Wire‘s Brennan Rupp.
What did Marshall mean to Florida’s defense?
Marshall represented seniority and leadership in a DB room that was quite young, especially after the loss of transfer Asa Turner. However, his career in Gainesville can be best described as “underwhelming.”
He arrived as a five-star recruit out of Miami Palmetto but never really lived up to that billing. While he made incremental progress over his tenure with the Gators, it seemed like for every big play he made, there were a few mistakes or simply instances of getting outplayed — the latter of which can happen easily in the SEC — that dulled any luster he might have gotten.
That said, by the time his senior season arrived, he was a grizzled veteran of the collegiate gridiron who undoubtedly had a positive influence on youngsters such as Jordan Castell. It is also worth noting he led the team in pass breakups for two straight years.
What would you say is Marshall’s greatest strength?
His raw talent has carried him these past four years and will continue to bolster him moving forward. He is fast, has some decent ups and size on his side. If you were rolling dice to create a character and landed on his physical attributes, you would take it without question.
What makes Marshall effective in coverage?
To be honest, from what I’ve seen over the years, I would be hesitant to call him “effective” in coverage, given how inconsistent his results are. His frame and strength give him an edge on smaller or similar-sized receivers, and he is smooth in tracing his coverage routes.
But those positives are mitigated by indecisiveness, poor handwork work and weak tackling.
What does Marshall offer in run support?
Continuing on the point of weak tackling, despite his size and quickness, he is disappointingly poor at bringing his man down. He also does not read blocks very well and often finds himself on the wrong side of the field on wide rushing attempts.
So to answer the question: “Not very much, if anything at all.”
If you were an NFL GM, why would you draft Marshall?
If I ran a franchise with a reputation for developing defensive back talent, it would be worth taking a gamble on Marshall as a pure cornerback.
His physical attributes cannot be denied, but the issues that are holding him back are mostly in mindset and discipline. He is still just 22 years old, so there is still some plasticity left in his learning abilities, but you would need a plan/system in place already to accommodate his needs.
He will probably get plucked in the later rounds as a result, but I have no doubt he will be signed as a UDFA if he is not.
Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: NFL draft: Scouting report for Florida Gators CB Jason Marshall Jr.
