George Gumbs Jr. Showing His Importance to Florida Gators Defense

The Florida Gators edge has been one of the standouts in the trenches so far this season

George Gumbs Jr. has been one of the bright spots among a struggling Florida Gators defense. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun] / Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Florida Gators defense has had its fair share of difficulties through the first six weeks of the season. It's given up too many points, been too weak at the line of scrimmage at times and missed important tackles. 

However, there are still positives to take away so far. One of those positives has been transfer edge George Gumbs Jr. He has, arguably, been the Gators best player in the trenches this season and he provided for them once again on the weekend against UCF. 

Against the Knights, Gumbs Jr. added 1.5 tackles-for-loss and 1.5 sacks. So, what helped contribute to this dominant showing last Saturday? One part of it was getting healthier through the bye week.

“...I feel like I kind of needed that bye week because coming off the bye week, my body felt way better,” Gumbs Jr. said. 

Another part was relying on his teammates' advice on what to expect from Knights quarterback KJ Jefferson. 

“Yeah, they gave me some insights on what happened last year, how we missed some plays and just making sure I got there… hold on,” Gumbs Jr. said. 

He now sits at a total of 4.5 tackles-for-loss and 2.5 sacks for the season after adding his numbers from the game. His 2.5 sacks are also tied for first on the team with Tyreak Sapp and his 4.5 tackles-for-loss are a team-high as well. Not a bad start to your Gators career and only your second year on the defensive side of the ball. 

And there is this feeling that these numbers could be even higher for Gumbs Jr. This Gators defense does a lot of rotation along the defensive line, maybe too much at some points, and it has led to less reps than maybe he probably deserves. 

There is one criticism about the newcomer when it comes to his season overall though. Sure, he has made tackles when the runner comes his way and caused disruption along the line of scrimmage on passing plays, but his best two games have come against non-sec opponents. 

Against Texas A&M and MIssissippi State, he tallied zero sacks and zero tackles-for-loss. However, you could argue no one along the line really had a good game in either of those, but that can’t be an excuse. It is important that he shows it in the league as well if he wants to be considered a top rusher in the country. 

That is the next level for him. He has shown against non-conference opponents that he can be a threat along the line, but he needs to also show it against the SEC and he’ll have the chance to do so against No. 8 Tennessee and their high-powered offense this Saturday at 7 p.m.