In advance of the 2026 high school football season, the Gainesville Sun is honoring the best of the best at each position in the Gainesville area.
After naming quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers, we moved onto the defensive side. After the “meat” (defensive line) and “quarterback” (linebackers), we conclude with the secondary — defensive backs. After this, we’ll return to the offense and conclude with offensive line.
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The talent level for this position group is truly unreal. That’s why we increased it to 11 players named, as seven recorded at least three interceptions in 2025. That included one with eight and another with seven — and now they play on the same team. Not too shabby.
Monday, we released who we thought were the 11 best defensive backs in the Gainesville area for the 2026 season, but we didn’t pick the top one.
We’re leaving that up to you — the fans.
Below is a poll to determine who the best defensive backs in the Gainesville area will be for the 2026 season.
You can vote as many times as you’d like. The poll closes at noon Saturday, August 15.
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Please share this poll with family and friends, and congratulations to all of those on the All-Area teams and their families!
Noah Ram covers Florida Gators athletics and Gainesville-area high school sports for The Gainesville Sun, GatorSports.com and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him at nram@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X @Noah_ram1, Instagram @Ramreporter and Facebook Noah Ram – Reporter.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Vote now for who the Gainesville area’s best DB will be in the 2026 season
