GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Junior Princely Umanmielen was named to the 2023 Lombardi Award Midseason Watchlist, as announced by the Lombardi Award, in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Houston.
Umanmielen was also named to the Lombardi Award Preseason Watchlist in August.
“The Lombardi Award goes annually to the college football offensive or defensive lineman who exemplifies the character and discipline of NFL Hall of Fame Head Coach Vince Lombardi in addition to outstanding performance and ability.”
According to the Lombardi Award, in order to be considered for the award the player must be an NCAA FBS College Football player with the following qualifications:
· Be a down Lineman, end to end, either on offense or defense, setting up no further than ten (10) yards to the left or right of the ball at the time of the snap.
· Be a Linebacker on defense, setting up no further than (5) yards deep from the line of scrimmage.
· Must not come out of the offensive backfield and set up on the line of scrimmage as a blocker or receiver or listed in the program as an offensive back or receiver.
· Be eligible to participate in the current season.
He is one of 100 players competing for this year’s award. The group has representation from all 10 FBS conferences. The Big Ten leads with twenty selections, followed by the Big 12 and SEC with sixteen.
Umanmielen, who has started every contest at EDGE this season, has accumulated three sacks, eight quarterback hits and twenty-one quarterback hurries, according to Pro Football Focus.
In Florida’s Week 7 contest against South Carolina, Umanmielen was credited with three hurries and one sack. His sack, which resulted in a seven-yard loss, came in the second quarter as the Gamecocks attempted a third and seven from their own thirty-five-yard line.
The Manor, Texas native is the highest graded defensive player for the Florida Gators that has played more than ten snaps. Furthermore, he is the fifth highest rated player in pass rush grade of Division I EDGE Defenders: 90.6.
Umanmielen holds a pass-rush win rate of 29.7%, which ranks 1st amongst all P5 pass-rushers with 50+ pass rush attempts, according to PFF. Furthermore, Umanmielen holds a 53.5% win rate on true pass sets, which excludes RPO’s, screens, and play actions.
“I’ve always had high expectations from the moment I stepped into college for myself,” Umanmielen said before the 2023 season started. “I just always wanted to be one of the top guys in college football, and I just feel like I have the ability and the opportunity to do that this year.”
In 2022, Umanmielen recorded 2.5 sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss in Florida’s final five games of the season. With five regular season games left in 2023, Umanmielen will look to build on a strong start to the season.