PFF's Highest-Graded Edge Rusher in Week 10: Florida's Princely Umanmielen

Princely Umanmielen's breakout performance was a crucial aspect of Florida's win over Texas A&M.

Photo: Princely Umanmielen; Credit: Alex Shepherd 

Billy Napier reminded Princely Umanmielen that the state of Texas "slept on" his talent as a high school recruit last week when Florida made its way to College Station for its bout with Texas A&M.

The Aggies, a team that recruited Umanmielen to an extent but ultimately looked elsewhere at defensive end in the class of 2020, probably wish they only saw the Manor native in a nightmare on Saturday.

Pro Football Focus' highest-graded edge rusher in the nation for Week 10 is none other than Umanmielen, a testament to his breakout performance in College Station that played a crucial part in Florida's 41-24 victory over Texas A&M.

Princely Umanmielen: Top graded Edge Rusher from Week 10🐊 pic.twitter.com/Wd9fzIDoqC

— PFF College (@PFF_College) November 8, 2022

At least, according to this graphic that is. PFF's charted rankings and data paint a slightly more contextual picture, with Umanmielen still standing above the rest to a degree.

Umanmielen received an overall defensive grade of 86.3 from PFF, good for second-best in the FBS among qualifying edge rushers in Week 10 (min. 50 percent of maximum snaps played). His 91.1 pass-rushing grade was the best in the country and he was the only edge rusher to surpass 90 points on the scale.

Umanmielen finished the game with three tackles, one sack, two tackles for loss and a forced fumble on the box score. He added seven total pressures, four quarterback hits and three run stops across 43 snaps, his second most in a game this season per PFF. 

He made big plays in big moments, too. Umanmielen posted a tackle for loss on a play that began three yards from the goal line and hurried Aggies quarterback Haynes King into two inaccurate passes and a strip-sack on three different third-down situations. 

Florida's third-down deficiencies have been well-noted throughout the 2022 season. Umanmielen was a major factor in the defense's breakthrough on conversion downs against Texas A&M, as the Gators halted the Aggies on seven-of-eight third-down attempts in the second half as well as on their lone fourth-down attempt.

Napier credited Umanmielen's development in recent weeks leading to increased usage on passing downs, an adjustment that paid off on Saturday.

"Princely's another one of those guys with minimal experience to some degree before this year that really is starting to develop nicely as a player," Napier said on Saturday. "We've played him more in the third down packages here as of late, and he's been productive."

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