Florida EDGE Antwaun Powell-Ryland Jr. Transferring to Virginia Tech

Following his surprise April portal entry, Florida edge rusher Antwaun Powell-Ryland Jr. has announced his transfer to Virginia Tech.

Photo: Antwaun Powell-Ryland Jr.; Credit: Alex Shepherd

Florida edge rusher Antwaun Powell-Ryland Jr. plans to transfer to Virginia Tech, he announced on Thursday. 

Powell-Ryland surprisingly entered the transfer portal on April 21 following three seasons with the Gators. He was projected to start on the edge for Florida in 2023 after taking over the role halfway through last season, following Brenton Cox Jr.'s Oct. 2022 dismissal from the team.

A native of Portsmouth, Va., Powell-Ryland signed with Florida as a member of the 2020 recruiting class as a consensus four-star prospect out of Indian River High School. He appeared in 27 games with the Gators, making five starts and totaling 34 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 7.5 tackles for loss, one pass breakup and three forced fumbles.

RELATED: How Florida's edge rush changes without Antwaun Powell-Ryland Jr. 

Florida enters the summer with six scholarship edge rushers, a position with two players on the field each play, on its 2023 roster: Junior Princely Umanmielen, redshirt sophomore Justus Boone, sophomore Jack Pyburn and true freshmen Kelby Collins, T.J. Searcy and Kamran James. 

Hybrid redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Tyreak Sapp, hybrid redshirt sophomore linebacker Scooby Williams and preferred walk-on redshirt freshman Bryce Capers also offer the ability to align on the edge. 

Umanmielen and Boone project to occupy the starting edge-rushing roles moving forward, although snap-shares will be expected at each spot. The two appeared in each game defensively for Florida in 2022, with Umanmielen making 11 starts opposite Cox and Powell-Ryland in the Gators' defensive front. 

Umanmielen produced a breakout season as the heir to Zachary Carter at his position, tallying single-season career highs of 39 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 9.5 tackles for loss and two forced fumbles. Boone added 24 tackles, one sack and one tackle for loss in a rotation with Umanmielen and other defensive linemen. 

Powell-Ryland was one of three scholarship members of Florida's roster to leave the team during the spring transfer portal window, after depth offensive tackle David Conner and before starting wide receiver Xzavier Henderson exited the program in April. 

Conner has since transferred to Colorado. Henderson has yet to make his transfer decision. 

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