Five Play Prospect: Gators DE Princely Umanmielen Scouting Report

Scouting report on Florida Gators 2020 defensive end signing Princely Umanmiemen.

The rich get richer.

The Florida Gators wrapped up their 2020 National Signing Day by poaching a Texas talent in defensive end Princely Umanmielen from the backyards of the University of Texas and Baylor - two schools that both had hats on his table.

BREAKING: Manor 4 ⭐️ DE Princely Umanmielen commits to Florida over Baylor, Texas, and Auburn. pic.twitter.com/LiTMJXsnCc

— Nick Harris (@NickHarrisFWST) February 5, 2020

The 6-4, 259 lb. defensive end is the sixth defensive lineman to join Florida's 2020 signing class, but is the only true strong-side end of the group. Behind Zachary Carter, who will replace Jabari Zuniga full time at the position in 2020, isn't much to hang your hat on (unless Brenton Cox cross-trains at S-DE and BUCK rush end). 

With not much ahead of him and behind Carter on the depth chart, Umanmielen's development will be critical this summer and early in the 2020 season. However, Unanmielen comes baring several traits that should serve him well if he gets some early playing time.

Film Room

Get-off and burst

Like his counterpart on the opposite edge in BUCK rush end Antwaun Powell, as well as interior prospects Gervon Dexter and Jalen Lee, Umanmielen wins with elite burst and get-off speed at the line of scrimmage.

Tackles simply don't have enough time to get into a position to anchor against that type of speed out of a defensive lineman's stance. And given Umanmielen's impressive frame that pairs with that burst, the tackle in the clip above stood no chance at slowing Umanmielen down off the edge.

Not only is this a priority trait within Florida's 2020 signing haul, but it's been the case over the years. Zuniga, Carter, Jonathan Greenard, Jachai Polite, Taven Bryan... the list goes on, and those guys only date back to the 2017 season.

Using length and strength

Umanmielen wins the pad level battle out of his stance against the left tackle, establishing the leverage to shed his block with a full extension push. 

You want to see Umanmielen activate his feet a bit more to fully utilize the power he generates with his lower center of gravity, but on this play, pure strength got him off the block.

From there, Umanmielen suplexes the running back before he can clear the gap, saving a potential touchdown. Once again, it's all about Umanmielen's strength.

Raw hand strength

When I previously studied Carter entering the 2019 season, I was impressed by the development of his hand usage. Previously, Carter's hands were certainly powerful, but technique was still needed.

During the 2019 spring game, though, Carter started to flash some refinement.

Working on an article covering #Gators DL Zachary Carter for @GatorMavenSI, which led me to re-watching his spring game.

The cross-chop move is deadly (see: Adrian Clayborn's 6-sack game in 2017), and Carter looks to have it down. He's going to be a productive pass rusher. pic.twitter.com/WjgnZiFIoD

— Zach Goodall (@zach_goodall) August 14, 2019

He utilized a cross-chop rush move, which can be deadly when used correctly. Carter was starting to use the move, and his hands in general, with better technique, which led to a productive 2019 campaign.

Umanmielen is similar to Carter in that respect as well. His hands are big and powerful - bear paws, as they're called in the scouting industry - that will need refinement at Florida. 

He'll have to work on controlling his swings and punches as he rushes the passer, but Umanmielen's hands are strong enough to throw a blocker off balance. That happens above, as Umanmielen not only puts the left tackle in a spin cycle with an inside arm-bar and a right-hand swipe, but also puts the left guard in the dirt with a strong push. 

In college, Umanmielen will just have to improve his placement. The strength is there.

The play ends with Umanmielen owning a clear lane to the quarterback, who steps up under pressure, and he finishes with a strip-sack.

Processing

This clip gives us a feel for Umanmielen's processing abilities. Taking on a tight end block on the edge, Carter keeps his eyes in the backfield to read the double pulling blocks - one from the left guard and the other from the right guard, both coming in his direction.

Umanmielen disengages from the tight end and works inside, sniffing out the hole between the two pulling blocks intended for the H-back to rush through. Despite plenty of congestion and a bit of trickery on the offensive play call, Umanmielen remains patient, uses his strength and vision well, and secures a tackle for loss.

You love to see that level of discipline from a young player in the trenches. Strong-side defensive end is a key figure in run defense, and smart football is required. Umanmielen is a smart football player.

Hustle

On the final play, we see Umanmielen line up in a two-point stance as a standing edge rusher, and his pressure from start to finish leads to a panic throw from the quarterback.

He opens wide to create space inside to counter, which he does by stepping inside and pushing his tackle outside simultaneously. Through that push, the quarterback feels the pocket collapsing and rolls out left. 

With the left tackle now being off balance from Umanmielen's push, with his hands still locked in the pass protector's chest, he plants his foot to recreate leverage, throws the tackle back inside to get off his block while generating horsepower, and he chases the quarterback out to the numbers.

Umanmielen totally disrupts the play, and the quarterback throws an incredibly risky pass - it was either that or take a sack.

Final Thoughts

Umanmielen brings total balance to Florida's 2020 defensive line haul, rounding out an extraordinarily talented and deep group of prospects.

Expect Umanmielen to line up primarily at strong-side defensive end for the Gators, but much like his fellow defensive linemen, Umanmielen is capable of moving around the line in packages, particularly to 3-technique defensive tackle in speed rush and blitz packages.

With a quick get-off that will be polished under defensive line coach David Turner, great length and size for the position as a high school senior, and strength, Umanmielen has all the traits to soundly replace Carter at strong-side defensive end in the future.

In fact, if I were to give Umanmielen a player comparison, I honestly would go with Carter. They're almost identical in size, as Carter stands at 6-4, 263, with similarly long arms. Like Umanmielen, Carter thrives with a quick get-off and powerful hands that needed some refinement throughout his development.

Carter is in line for a big year as Florida's starting strong-side defensive end. With a prospect in the wings similar to him in Umanmielen, the Gators are riding on a lot of long, athletic potential on the strong-side edge.