Florida junior edge rusher Princely Umanmielen announced Wednesday that he'll be entering the Transfer Portal.
“We all must do what is best for us and I think this is what is best for me at the time,” Umanmielen said on social media. “Thank you, Gator Nation. #Gator 4L.”
The Manor, Texas, native set new career highs in several defensive stats with 11.5 tackles for loss, seven sacks and 17 quarterback hurries.
He led the Gators in all three categories and helped anchor a Florida defensive front that finished seventh in the SEC in pressure rate per CFBGraphs.
Outside of Umanmielen, the Gators struggled to consistently get after opposing quarterbacks.
Florida finished with the third-fewest sacks in the conference, and Umanmielen was the only player with three or more sacks. He’s also the only Gator with more than five quarterback hurries.
Florida will turn to a handful of talented young players to provide more pass rush next season without Umanmielen.
Freshmen Kelby Collins and Kamran James were top-100 recruits and showed flashes in limited playing time. Freshman TJ Searcy played the most of the young edge players and made three and a half tackles for loss.
Contact Topher Adams at tadams@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @Topher_Adams.
Topher Adams is a fourth-year communications major and in his fourth semester with the Alligator. He previously covered football, baseball and women's basketball. He also enjoys professional lacrosse and Major League Soccer.
