Junior edge rusher Princely Umanmielen is having an impressive season despite totaling just three sacks through eight games. The 6-5, 255-pound Texas native grades as the 31st best edge defender while holding the 7th best pressure grade amongst eligible players in the FBS, according to Pro Football Focus.
“I get to the quarterback. As soon as I get there, he just throws the ball away. So many quarterback hits. It’s a little frustrating,” Umanmielen said on his season.
Umanmielen has nine QB hits while no other Gator defender has more than three. His 22 QB hurries rank first on the team while the next closest Gator in that department is Caleb Banks with 13. His ‘win rate’, which is defined by PFF as ‘ Percentage of “wins” vs Blocking on non-penalty Pass Rush Snaps, sit at 28.1 and 46.9 on true pass sets, which both rank first in the Power 5. Umanmielen has a better win rate than UCLA’s Laiatu Latu, who you can find atop most NFL mock drafts and grades as the best pass rusher in college football.
“I still feel like, even though I’m not getting sacks, I’ve been affecting the quarterback throughout the games. I remember I missed one versus Vanderbilt. I was a little frustrated. Armstrong told me, he was like, You stood out on the field more than somebody who would have had two sacks because of how much effect I was having on the quarterback,” Umanmielen said.
Umanmielen’s pass rush ability has played a critical role in Florida’s much improved third down defense, which ranks 22nd in the FBS in 2023.
It’s important to note that this is Umanmielen’s first season at outside linebacker, where he had to learn more coverages and put an emphasis on eye discipline.
“This is the first season I’m playing this position, so I’m new at it. I’m still learning just a little bit, but I do feel like I’m playing well. I feel like Georgia was one of my better games. I feel like I’m going to elevate throughout the season,” Umanmielen said.
“First off, I had to get comfortable with standing up. At first, I didn’t think I would be able to get a good get-off while standing up off the line. After spring, I’m really comfortable in it,” Umanmielen added. “The dropping, like the coverages, I’ve had to learn about that. Before, when I played in what we call the F here, mainly when we dropped, it would be one drop. Now I have buzz, bang the buzz, four to first. I really had to learn to maneuver around the field when I have to drop into coverage, especially eye discipline.”
Umanmielen wasn’t just frustrated with his season, but the inconsistency of the defense as a whole.
“Experience matters,” Umanmielen said on the root of the inconsistences. “We have a really young defense. Those players are really young. Yeah, even when I was a young player, I didn’t realize it until I got older, but experience is a factor. So, yeah, it could be that we have a lot of young guys.”
Florida is seeing significant snaps from a number of true freshmen on defense, including Jordan Castell, Bryce Thornton, TJ Searcy, and Kelby Collins, who all have more than 150 snaps through eight games.
Umanmielen and the rest of the Gators’ defense will look to turn around a frustrating season in the final four games of the regular season.
“I would say just to keep our heads up,” Umanmielen said on his leadership role. “We’ve been through adversity this season, but I don’t feel like we should go about the season just moping around, just coming here just to be here. I feel like we should still play like we have something to play for. We shouldn’t put our heads down just because we took the loss that we took. We should still keep fighting for the rest of the season to try to win out.”
Florida is set to take on Arkansas at Noon Eastern inside the Swamp in week ten.