Florida Football: What should Gator fans expect from George Gumbs?

Florida football tends to have a pattern where they stay quiet for an extended period and then drop a bunch of good news at once. Yesterday was a case of that as Billy Napier was able to put his sunglasses on twice as Florida secured the transfer of Pup Williams from South Carolina and George Gumbs from NIU.

We profiled Williams earlier in the week, but what will Gumbs bring to the table for the 2024 season?

Florida Football: New kid on the block

Out of high school, Gumbs was a lightly recruited wide reciever in the class of 2021. Out of Chicago, Gumbs was the 1,703rd rated prospect nationally, listed at the time at 6'4" and 180 pounds.

Whoever runs the NIU strength and conditioning program should pat themselves on the back as last season he was listed at 242 pounds, a 62 pounds jump. And past on photos, those 62 pounds are not just from eating Big Macs all day.

His on field production wasn't notable for his first two seasons at NIU, with just four catches in his first two seasons. Once he got to 242 pounds, NIU opted to move him to defensive end for the first time in his playing career.

So it is with the fact he is a novice at the position in mind that his 2023 season wasn't Earth shattering. He was credited with 32 total tackles, 6.5 for a loss, 3.5 sacks, and 3 hits on the QB.

His 11 QB hurries were 466th in the country and his 7.3% "win rate" on pass rushes was 275th out of 476 players that took at least 200 snaps in 2023.

The ceiling for Gumbs is high given his overall inexperience at the position, but as of now, he should be viewed as a role player for 2024. Florida will get back Justus Boone for 2024 and still have guys like T.J. Searcy, Kelby Collins, Jack Pyburn, and Tyreak Sapp to go along with inccoming five-star freshman LJ McCray.