Florida Football loses another starter to the transfer portal

For the most part, Florida Football has been able to keep its core intact from heading to the transfer portal. A couple of starters from the beginning of the year, like Arlis Boardingham and Ja'Keem Jackson, have left, but up until yesterday, the only current starter the Gators had lost to the portal was Jack Pyburn.

Add one more to the list as Florida will need to replace their right guard in 2025.

Florida Football: Next man up

The two seasons Damieon George has been with Florida have been complicated. He transferred in from Alabama ahead of the 2023 season and was inserted at right tackle.

It did not go well as George gave up 29 pressures in 2023 and was a notable liability along the offensive line.

The narrative on George is that he was better suited to play guard, and when Florida grabbed Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson out of the transfer portal ahead of the 2024 campaign, it enabled George to bump inside to right guard.

George drew the ire of Gator fans in the loss to Miami when he was seen lightly jogging to make a tackle after Graham Mertz threw an interception. As the season played out, George took 414 snaps at right guard and was adequate. His pass blocking was good enough, as he allowed seven hurries but no sacks. His support in the run game was debatable, as the right side was viewed from a perception standpoint as the weaker side of the line.

He has one season of eligibility left but is off to the transfer portal. On paper, this paves the way for Bryce Lovett to take over as a starting guard in 2025. Lovett took 290 snaps in 2024, swapping between left and right guard. He was the starter against FSU and took 28 snaps. Lovett gave up three hurries in that game and will probably see extended action against Tulane in the Gasparilla Bowl.