Florida Gators Football: Zachary Carter makes NFL decision

The leader in sacks for the Florida Gators for this season has officially made a decision on his NFL dreams. Defensive lineman Zachary Carter officially announced Friday on his Twitter page that he is officially declaring for the 2022 NFL Draft. With the announcement, Carter also let it be known that he will not play in the Gasparilla Bowl on Dec. 23 vs. UCF.

Lord I thank you for getting me to this point‼️ nobody but you☝🏾
GATOR 4L 🐊💙🧡 pic.twitter.com/7FfHsrE8gf

— Zachary L Carter (@Zachattacks_) December 10, 2021

“After many prayers, I would like to officially announce that I will forgo the bowl game and I will be declaring for the 2022 NFL Draft,” Carter wrote on a note via his Twitter account.

“I want to thank the entire Gator nation for the love over the last five years,” Carter added. “I will cherish my time spent here forever and I will always be a Gator (for life)! I came into The Swamp as a boy and I am leaving as a man. Most importantly, I want to thank my teammates for sticking together through all of the adversity we’ve been through,” he wrote.

Carter racked up 11 tackles for loss and eight sacks in 2021 for the Gators, leading the team in both categories.

In his midseason report, On3’s Matt Zenitz listed Carter as one of 15 players with rising NFL Draft stock. Zenitz wrote: “Carter led Florida with five sacks last season, and already has exceeded that figure with an SEC-leading 5.5 sacks. He also is tied for second in the conference with eight tackles for loss. At least some scouts have first-round grades on Carter.”

The Tampa Bay native played in 32 games over the past five years for Florida, racking up 39 solo tackles, 26 tackles for loss, and 17 sacks.

After the 2020 season, Carter contemplated turning pro but decided to come back for another season and work on a number of things in his game. That decision appears to have been a wise one and it’s paid off.

Against Florida Atlantic this season, he racked up three sacks in just three quarters, before resting the final quarter of the game.

Earlier this season, he talked about the decision to come back for another year.

“Personally, when I looked back on last season, I had a solid year, but I just knew there were a lot of plays I left out there on the field, a lot of sacks I left out there,” Carter said. “I just knew I had to put in that work this offseason to go out there in Week 1 and execute like that.”

Now, the 6-foot-5, 285-pounder will finally get to focus on preparing for the NFL.