Florida Football: Penn DT Joey Slackman gives Gators a visit

Time waits for nobody in the age of the transfer portal, and Florida football had a handful of potential transfers on campus over the weekend to try and sell them on the Gators.

One of the more intriguing prospects is an Ivy League standout who is considered one of the best defensive linemen available in the transfer portal as of now.

Florida Football: No Slack

Joey Slackman is listed as a defensive tackle at 6'4\" and 300 pounds. Playing for the University of Pennslyvania was credited with 50 tackles, 12 of which were for a loss, and four of them which were sacks.

He was also credited with 11 hurries, and according to Pro Football Focus, 30 of his tackles constituted a win for the defense under the \"success rate\" metric we have referenced on the site throughout the year.

He took the vast majority of his snaps this season lined up in the B gap.

Clint Brewster of 247 Sports says that there is good reason why Slackman is one of the more targeted defensive linemen in the transfer portal:

"He is a physically-imposing DT with shade-versatility and plenty of athleticism. Plays extremely hard with a brawler's mentality upfront. … He is the type of player that everybody wants in their foxhole."

Coming out of high school, Slackman was a virtually unrecruited player out of Commack, N.Y. He made his way to Penn as a state-champion wrestler and wasn't even going to be on the football team at first.

But he has thrived in college and will have one season of eligibility left as a graduate transfer.

Given the loss of Princely Umanmielen, Will Norman, and Chris McClellan to the transfer portal along the defensive line, it is imperative that the Gators go out and restock the unit for the 2024 season or run the risk of having a severely under matched unit.