Florida Gators 2020 Signee Profile: DE Princely Umanmielen
Princely Umanmielen, strong-side defensive end
School: Manor (Texas)
Height/Weight: 6-foot-4, 282 pounds
247Sports Composite Rating: Four-star, No. 9 strong-side defensive end, No. 38 state (Texas.), No. 241 national
Recruitment History
Schools from across the entire state of Texas and the midwest region began lining up for Umanmielen's services just before and during his junior season. Texas gained early momentum by offering in September 2018, which led to a commitment from Umanmielen nearly a year later on August 12th, 2019.
However, that pledge would last just over two months before Umanmielen backed off and opened things back up. Florida sent an offer Umanmielen's way a week later on October 29th, and things appeared to turn into a three-way race between UF, Texas, and Baylor from there.
Umanmielen visited Baylor twice, Florida once, and Texas again before making his signing day decision. In the end, the Gators won out over the two in-state schools battling for Umanmielen, as well as Auburn who also had a hat at the table.
Long-Term Outlook
A lengthy strong-side end, Umanmielen appears to have already added plenty of weight from his high school listing of 6-4, 249 lbs. as UF now lists him at 282 lbs. It's yet to be seen how Umanmielen will apply that new weight to his game, but he certainly had the frame in high school that suggested he could easily add more bulk.
The strong-side end spot is currently a weak spot on Florida's roster - not from a lack of talent, but a lack of numbers. Zachary Carter will assume the full-time starting role there in 2020 should a season happen amidst the coronavirus pandemic, replacing the NFL-bound Jabari Zuniga, but after Carter the Gators don't have any experience to hang their hats on.
Andrew Chatfield, an undersized SDE, provides depth but has yet to play meaningful snaps over two seasons. Georgia transfer Brenton Cox Jr. would actually make a lot of sense at SDE, perhaps rotating between that end spot and the opposite BUCK rush end, but he has yet to take a snap at Florida.
In which case, Umanmielen absolutely has a shot to play early in his career at Florida.
Playing with a quick, twitchy get-off to pair with his length, Umanmielen had little issues getting off of blocks at the high school level and those two traits provide plenty of upside to continue doing so in college. Over the past two years at Manor, Umanmielen recorded 15.5 sacks and a whopping 48 tackles for loss.
Further technique development will be needed, cleaning up Umanmielen's leverage when attacking offensive linemen and adding to his arsenal of pass rush moves. However, Umanmielen already owns a solid bull rush, long-arm, and swipe move that should continue to prove effective.
Which great size and those traits, Umanmielen's floor is a solid run-defending edge on the strong-side of the formation, with the potential to develop into a dominant all-around player with his size and athleticism. The sky is the limit for Umanmielen when you consider his quick growth as an already high-caliber prospect at defensive end, explaining Florida's late push for the Lone Star State star.
