JACKSONVILLE, FL - OCTOBER 29: Teez Tabor #31, Duke Dawson #7, and Chris Thompson #85 of the Florida Gators celebrate after the game against the Georgia Bulldogs at EverBank Field on October 29, 2016 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Rob Foldy/Getty Images)

One of the SEC's best defenses keeps key defender for 2017 season

That's a huge keeper for them.

Most Florida fans assumed just about all of the starters in the secondary for Florida would be gone this year as they are draft-eligible. While Teez Tabor and Quincy Wilson are almost guaranteed to go pro and go in the first two or three rounds, Duke Dawson was probably considered the lesser of the three players, but still good enough to go pro.

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It seems that Dawson wants to really prove himself and he took to Twitter to make an important announcement:

https://twitter.com/7upya__/status/816390218794303488

That gives Florida at least one returning in the secondary and that unit grew up a bit in the game against Iowa with Chauncey Gardner recording two picks and one going back for six points. Dawson will be able to mentor a young squad and prove that he's worth a good draft pick come 2018. He finished the 2016 season with one pick-six, 24 total tackles, a forced fumble, 3.5 tackles for loss and seven pass break ups.