Florida football: Gators DB Jalen Kimber enters the transfer portal

Florida football lost another player to the transfer portal today and will have to handle some more roster turnover as they head into 2024.

Starting corner Jalen Kimber, who spent the last two years in Gainesville after starting his career in Georgia, announced his intentions to enter the portal for his fifth season.

Kimber had a pretty productive season this fall with the Gators, totaling 23 tackles and five pass breakups over 10 games.

The good news for the Gators is that they're pretty well set up to replace the gap that Kimber is leaving in the secondary.

Florida football: Next man up

While losing Kimber does take away an experienced member of the Gators secondary, Florida has plenty of guys they can count on to fill in that gap.

Freshman Ja'Keem Jackson showed his potential last season and matched up very well against a handful of elite receivers.

There are several other young players as well who will see an elevated role next season in Dijon Johnson and Sharif Denson. Jaydon Hill, assuming he comes back next season, will be one of the best DBs in Gainesville.

Billy Napier has already addressed the secondary in the transfer portal, adding Trikweze Bridges from Oregon to bolster up the secondary. Florida may also be in play for a handful of other DBs still in the portal.

Losing Kimber gives new DB coach Will Harris an early challenge, as he now has to find a way to replace the production that Kimber gave them.

With the players that the Gators already have on the roster, plus any potential portal additions, Florida should be just fine on the backend.