Florida has landed two more names on preseason award watch lists, with junior center Harrison Moore earning a spot on the Rimington Trophy list and running back Jadan Baugh making the Maxwell Award cut.
Moore, a transfer from Georgia Tech, is in line to take over at center for the Gators after the departure of Jake Slaughter. The 6-foot-4, 293-pound lineman played in 11 games and started eight for the Yellow Jackets in 2025, helping an offensive front that gave up only nine sacks, or 0.69 per game.
The Rimington Trophy goes to college football’s top center, and the watch list was trimmed to 40 players by the Trophy Committee working with Pro Football Focus. PFF grades every player on every play of every game based on how well they handle their assignment, and that play-by-play evaluation, along with school nominations, helped shape the list.
The award is named for Dave Rimington, a consensus first-team All-America center at Nebraska in 1981 and 1982. During that stretch, he became the only two-time winner of the John Outland Trophy as the nation’s best college interior lineman.
Moore steps into a spot previously held by Slaughter, a two-time All-American and two-time Rimington finalist in 2024 and 2025. Slaughter was selected in the second round by the Los Angeles Chargers in the 2026 NFL draft.
Baugh, meanwhile, was one of 81 players named to the Maxwell Award preseason watch list, which honors the most outstanding player in college football. Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza won the award in 2025.
The 6-foot-1, 228-pound back is coming off a huge season and has a chance to lead the SEC in rushing. He finished third in the conference last year with 1,170 rushing yards and eight touchdowns for Florida, and he added 21 receptions for 185 yards and two scores as a receiver.
His biggest breakout moment came in Florida’s 2025 finale against Florida State, when he ripped off 266 rushing yards, the second-best single-game total in program history. Only Pro Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith has gone for more in a game for UF, rushing for 316 yards and three touchdowns against New Mexico on Oct. 21, 1989.
That performance also pushed Baugh into a special club: he became the 10th Florida running back to top 1,000 rushing yards in a season, and the first since Kelvin Taylor in 2015.
The Maxwell Award field will be cut to semifinalists on Nov. 10, followed by three finalists on Nov. 24.
The winner will be announced on the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show on Dec. 10.
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The more surprising part is the order of things behind him, with returning sophomore Bo Jackson still part of the picture after a freshman season that topped 1,000 rushing yards and an offseason surgery that apparently has not kept him off the field. Even so, the early practice reps have created an interesting competition in the backfield, and for Florida fans watching from afar, it is a reminder that Jacksons departure may be felt well beyond the swamp. [Read more 🡒]
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The uncomfortable part for Florida is how quickly the math can turn against a team with a good record. In the hypothetical scenario the new format creates, a 10-2 Gators team could have the rsum to feel playoff-worthy and still lose out to Notre Dame because of the way the bracket is built. For Florida, the issue is not just winning enough games, but navigating a selection process that now gives the Irish a clearer lane than many other contenders. [Read more 🡒]