Jabari Zuniga
is exceeding expectations along the defensive line for the Gators.
GAINESVILLE — It was late in the afternoon when Jabari Zuniga walked into Florida’s indoor practice facility, his hands gripping the top of his chest pads and his head bent toward the turf.
Before the season began, the redshirt freshman set a goal for himself: reach five sacks by the end of the year.
With Florida’s depth of talent on its defensive line, it was a longshot. Zuniga figured he would aim for the miraculous and fall somewhere above average.
And then he collected his fifth sack nearly a month ago against Vanderbilt, the fifth game of the season.
“I knew I could pass rush,” Zuniga said. “I didn’t really think it was gonna happen so fast.”
This is Florida’s sack leader, a redshirt freshman who was barely recruited two years ago and rarely speaks more than a few words to coaches during film sessions and teammates in the Gators’ locker room.
And despite limited playing time, Zuniga routinely wreaks havoc in the opponent’s backfield, a quality Florida hopes the Geor-
gia native brings into UF’s matchup with the Bulldogs on Saturday.
“He’s the silent assassin,” teammate CeCe Jefferson said, adding that Zuniga’s strength is his biggest asset.
He’s also a ‘freak in the weight room’ according to quarterback Luke Del Rio, who complained to UF’s strength coach in the offseason about being paired up with Zuniga during weight-lifting sessions. Too much time was wasted constantly changing weights.
“We’re putting on a lot of weight for him and taking some of it off for me every set,” Del Rio joked.
During those two months spent working out with Zuniga, Del Rio witnessed a preview of what the redshirt freshman would become. He noticed his unusual strength. He noticed his soft-spoken nature and his will to work. And after Zuniga sat out a season, Del Rio said he noticed Zuniga’s desire to be great, the same desire that has allowed Zuniga to earn more sacks than any Florida player in a season’s first five games since at least 2008.
“Whenever it clicked, it was gonna be bad for opposing offenses,” Del Rio said. “And it’s starting to click.”
In high school in Marietta, Georgia, Zuniga was restricted by his own body’s limitations. UF linebackers coach Randy Shannon said he was 5-foot-11 at the end of his junior year, severely undersized for a defensive end despite his raw athleticism. Many Power 5 schools passed on recruiting him.
“They said he wouldn’t grow,” Shannon said.
When Florida’s coaches returned to his high school the following year, they saw a different player: Zuniga had grown to 6-foot-3 and appeared to be the steal of the Gators’ recruiting class if they could get him to commit.
But while his growth spurt was a positive, it also came with a disadvantage. His height increase led to a thinner frame. He weighed just 230 pounds and was still undersized for his position.
Zuniga was forced to redshirt his first year at Florida to put on weight and gain muscle. He said he practically lived in the weight room. The result? “I have a rule,” UF defensive line coach Chris Rumph said. “He cannot take his shirt off in front of my wife.”
And while teammates are shocked at his muscle gain, they have been even more impressed with his play on the field.
“I could tell he was going to be good,” junior cornerback Jalen Tabor said. “That’s big, five sacks. I wish I had five picks.”
So far, Zuniga has served as Florida’s pass-rush specialist off the edges, entering games during obvious passing situations and given free-reign to attack the quarterback. Rumph said with the loss of former defensive end Alex McCalister to the NFL Draft, Florida was lacking a true pass rusher.
They think they’ve found one in Zuniga.
“Once he gets on that field, it’s over,” Jefferson said.
Zuniga’s sack total is tied for seventh in the Southeastern Conference. He’s the only first-year player ranked in the top 25.
And only 10 UF players in the last eight years have had more sacks in a season than Zuniga has had through half of one.
His coaches think he can continue to get better as he adds more weight to his 250-pound frame. And, according to Zuniga, if his 6-foot-8 father is any indication, he thinks he’s not done growing.
“I’m just gonna keep working and see where it can get me,” Zuniga said.