Florida fans may know the story of George Gumbs by now, but the NFL world is only just figuring out how improbable his rise has been. As a quick recap, Gumbs was a low three-star wide receiver who went to Northern Illinois and eventually made the transition to EDGE.
Gumbs trasfered to Florida ahead of the 2024 season and was a mainstay on the defensive line for two years.
Indianapolis wound up drafting Gumbs in the 5th round and they highlighted what exactly they liked.
George Gumbs hopes to continue his story with the Colts
One of the areas of need for the Colts heading into the draft was at EDGE and it did raise some eyebrows when they waited until the 5th round to ultimately draft Gumbs. Their Southeast Area Scout Anthony Coughlan explained this week what Indianapolis sees with Gumbs:
“He's got the talent, he's got size and this guy's wired the right way. Like super into football. Man, he went to Pro Day, it was excellent performance. I thought his movement, athletically, really impressed me in person.
Obviously blew out the Combine too with his numbers. But you see that on film too, played some receiver, played some tight end. And then they put him on scholarship, then he played EDGE for one year. And that's kind of how Florida found him.
I just think it's a great story, man. This guy pursued football. he walked on at a play at a MAC school and leveled up and started at an SEC school and now is drafted to the NFL. So he's got some stuff to him where he's like really determined. I'm really high on the person and I think he's very talented as well.”
As we highlighted this week, the Colts have a chance to be an ideal fit for Gumbs, while also having a chance of quickly going south. Given the lack of depth with the Colts along the defensive line, early opportunities should be available for Gumbs.
But just like Gumbs was a project at Florida, there might be some concern about having to throw Gumbs into meaningful snaps right away as this upcoming NFL season will be just his fourth season ever playing along the defensive line.
Florida in total had seven picks in the NFL Draft, one in each round.
Add us as a preferred source on Google