GAINESVILLE — Five Florida Gators were selected in last month’s NFL Draft, including first round selection Taven Bryan, who was taken 29th overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Bryan’s selection extended Florida’s streak of years with a first round selection to six, the second-longest streak of any program in the country (Alabama, 10).

While the five Gators selected overall was the fewest for the program in five years  –speaking to the recruiting shortcomings of the Gators under Jim McElwain — Florida collectively remains one of the premier talent producers in the National Football League. Forty-seven Gators finished 2017 on NFL rosters, good for third overall among colleges nationally, and second in the SEC, behind LSU (51).

Florida’s list includes multiple All-Pro and Pro Bowl selections, a handful of first, second and third year professionals on the edge of stardom, and several Super Bowl winners.

Here’s our list of the 10 best Florida Gators playing in the NFL.

Tim Tebow obviously didn’t make the list, but, hey Danny Etling just got drafted, so never say never.

1. Maurkice Pouncey, C, Pittsburgh Steelers

The former All-American, national champion and Rimington Trophy award winner as the best center in college football, the Steelers selected Pouncey in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He made an immediate impact, starting all sixteen regular season games as a rookie. He was injured in the playoffs, and no less than Ben Roethlisberger admitted the Steelers missed their rookie center badly in the Super Bowl, which they lost to the Green Bay Packers.

Pouncey has made six Pro Bowls and been selected as an All-Pro four times. When he was snubbed from the All-Pro this past season, Mike Tomlin told the Pittsburgh media the omission “was ridiculous,” calling his center “a future no-brainer Hall of Famer.”

That’s high praise, but for a player Urban Meyer called “one of the most cerebral football minds” he’d ever coached, it shouldn’t surprise Gators fans.

Pouncey is, by some distance, the best Florida Gator in the NFL.

2. Carlos Dunlap, DE, Cincinnati Bengals

An All-American and All-SEC selection and the Defensive MVP of the January 2009 BCS National Championship Game, Dunlap’s Florida career is mostly remembered for the way it ended, with his falling asleep at the wheel of a car and picking up a DUI just days before the 2009 SEC Championship game.

That arrest had an immense impact on the last decade of Florida — and SEC — football.

Dunlap (pictured above) was suspended immediately by Urban Meyer, and Charlie Strong was faced with the impossible task of replacing his All-American defensive end and implementing a new defensive plan in 48 hours. That didn’t go well, and Florida was beaten by eventual national champion Alabama 32-13, a result that famously left Tim Tebow in tears. The loss snapped Florida’s school record 22-game winning streak and marked the end of Meyer’s reign of dominance over the SEC, and the beginning of Nick Saban’s reign of terror.

The suspension cast character questions over Dunlap ahead of the 2010 NFL Draft, and he fell to the second round, where he was selected by the Bengals as the 54th pick. Dunlap recorded 9.5 sacks as a rookie in 2010, and contributed regularly as a pass-rusher until 2015, when he registered 13.5 sacks en route to his first Pro Bowl. Another Pro-Bowl campaign followed in 2016, and last season Dunlap added 7.5 more sacks, a game-winning interception run back for a touchdown and a career-high 17 pass deflections to his resume.

Dunlap is expected to sign an extension and earn the opportunity to retire a Bengal this summer.

3. Jordan Reed, TE, Washington Redskins

Florida has struggled offensively at the skill positions over the past decade, and this shows in the NFL ranks, but Reed, a third-round selection of Washington in the 2013 NFL Draft, has been a shining exception.

Reed caught 95 passes in his first two seasons before exploding in 2015, catching 87 passes for 952 yards and tallying 11 touchdowns. His 66 receptions and 686 yards the following season gave the former All-SEC tight end a two-year total of 153 receptions and 17 touchdowns and saw him make his first Pro Bowl. Heading into 2017, he was ranked the NFL’s second-best tight end by both ESPN and Pro Football Focus, behind Rob Gronkowski.

Injuries limited his 2017 campaign to six games, but Reed expects to be healthy by summer camp and a big part of Washington’s offense again in 2018, albeit with Alex Smith, not Kirk Cousins, at quarterback.

4. Keanu Neal, S, Atlanta Falcons

The anchor of an elite Florida secondary that captured the SEC East crown in 2015, Falcons fans were nonetheless wary when the team selected Keanu Neal with the 17th overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. Only 20 at the time, they worried that the big-hitting safety wasn’t ready for the complexities of coverage in the NFL, with one prominent Atlanta sports radio personality calling the pick a big reach for Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff and Head Coach Dan Quinn, who recruited Neal to Florida as the Gators defensive coordinator in 2012.

How did Neal answer the doubters?

By playing five positions as a rookie, allowing the second lowest passer rating of any safety in the NFL in man coverage, starting the Super Bowl and being named to the NFL All-Rookie team.

Neal followed up that campaign with a Pro Bowl season in 2017, and his big hits have made him a fan favorite and the face of Dan Quinn and fellow Gator alum Marquand Manuel’s Falcon defense.

5. Jarrad Davis, LB, Detroit Lions

Davis arrived in Gainesville a relatively unknown 3-star linebacker from a small town in Georgia and left the anchor of two SEC East winning defenses and an All-American.

The Lions rewarded Davis’ accomplishments at Florida by selecting him in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft, and Davis’s rookie campaign was an epic thank you card. In 14 games and 12 starts, Davis collected 96 tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and an interception.

By the end of the regular season, Davis was the fourth-ranked linebacker in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus, leaving the Lions front office salivating over the second-year potential of the rookie with insane toughness, an incredibly high tackle ratio and the type of leadership and instincts that define All-Pros at the position.

Wherever Davis goes, things get better, and his rookie year was just the beginning.

6. Mike Pouncey, C, Los Angeles Chargers

A two-time first team All-American and national champion at Florida, Pouncey spent seven seasons as the anchor of the Dolphins offensive line before being released at his request and signing with the Chargers this past winter.

Never a stranger to controversy off the field, both for his friendship with the late Aaron Hernandez and his alleged role in the Richie Incognito Dolphins bullying scandal, Pouncey has been terrific on it.

The 15th overall selection in the 2011 draft, Pouncey has battled injuries throughout his career, but when healthy has consistently graded out among the NFL’s best linemen, serving as Dolphins captain for four seasons and earning three Pro Bowl selections.

7. Joe Haden, CB, Pittsburgh Steelers

Haden, a consensus first team All-American, national champion and the Sporting News NCAA Defensive Player of the Year in 2009, was selected by the Browns with the seventh pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.

A starter by midseason of his rookie campaign, Haden collected six interceptions as a rookie on his was to All-Rookie team honors. By 2013, he was an All-Pro, rated as one of the top five corners in the league by Pro Football Focus.

Credit: Philip G. Pavely-USA TODAY Sports

Selected to multiple Pro Bowls, Haden joined recently retired Joe Thomas as one of the lone stars on several moribund Browns teams and became a Dawg Pound favorite. His departure to rival Pittsburgh last year after two seasons with injury concerns was a tough blow on the loyal but cursed fans at Cleveland’s Factory of Sadness.

As a Steeler, Haden finally played in a playoff game, and now completely healthy, he appears ready to claim a more prominent role in year two in Pittsburgh this fall.

8. Janoris Jenkins, CB, New York Giants

A national champion and freshman All-American in 2008 and first-team All SEC corner for Meyer in 2010, Jenkins was booted off the team by Will Muschamp the following spring after being arrested for marijuana possession (the charges were dismissed). Jenkins transferred to North Alabama, stayed out of trouble, and was selected by the Rams in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft.

Despite small stature at 5-10, Jenkins athleticism, ability to read plays and incredible recovery speed have turned him into one of the NFL’s premier cover corners, and prior to an injury-prone 2017 which also saw his work ethic questioned, Jenkins was a Pro-Bowler and All-Pro for the New York Giants in 2016. His 16 interceptions also include a remarkable 9 touchdowns, making him one of the most explosive corners after a turnover in the league.

Jenkins, who still says “University of Florida” in Thursday, Sunday and Monday Night Football introductions, could have easily slotted higher on this list but was bumped down after last year’s odd injury and off-field combo limited him to nine games.

9. Reggie Nelson, S, Oakland Raiders

An All-American, Jim Thorpe Award finalist and national champion at Florida in 2006, Nelson was a first-round pick of the Jaguars in 2007 but struggled in three years in Jacksonville before being shipped to Cincinnati in 2010.

He put his career back together as a Bengal, becoming a full-time starter in 2010 and helping the Bengals return to the postseason in 2011, when he intercepted 4 passes, scored a touchdown and led the team with 12 pass deflections.

He made his first Pro Bowl at 32 in 2015, when he intercepted 8 passes and deflected 14 passes. Named an All-Pro, Nelson parlayed that year into a big contract with the Raiders and was selected to another Pro Bowl roster in 2016.

Always durable, Nelson has started 32 games in two seasons in Oakland, and recently signed a one-year extension that should allow him to retire a Raider.

10. Antonio Morrison, LB, Indianapolis Colts

It would have been easier to go with a big name, like Jacksonville’s Dante Fowler, the third overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, in this spot. After all, Fowler is coming off his best year as a Jaguar, despite the club not picking up the option on his fifth season.

But production matters, and so the pick is Morrison.

An All-SEC linebacker, two-time Butkus Award semifinalist and the first Gator in 20+ years to record back-to-back 100 tackle seasons, Morrison fell to the fourth round in the 2016 NFL Draft thanks to character and durability concerns, mostly related to an off-field arrest (which was dismissed) and a devastating knee injury suffered in the 2015 Birmingham Bowl.

Nevertheless, some analysts were high on Morrison, believing his ceiling was Pro Bowl high if he could remain healthy.

They were right. Morrison rated as the fifth best linebacker in the AFC South last year, and the most improved of that division, collecting 109 tackles while playing and starting fifteen games.

Morrison needs to improve in coverage, but he’s already an elite tackler and has shown great improvement as a vocal leader of a young, improving Colts defense. Entering his third year in the league, there’s a sense among the Colts front office a breakthrough season may be on the horizon.