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Florida releases statement after arrest of OL Devon Manuel

On3 imageby: Zach Abolverdi07/19/25ZachAbolverdi
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Florida OL Devon Manuel. (Jordan Herald/UAA Communications)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida Gators redshirt senior offensive tackle Devon Manuel was arrested early Friday morning in Gainesville. He faces charges of one count of felony possession of a concealed weapon/electric weapon and one count of misdemeanor DUI.

A UF spokesperson released a statement on Saturday morning regarding Manuel.

“We are aware of the situation with Devon Manuel. We will gather all the facts and monitor the situation.”

Manuel is the third Gators player arrested this offseason, along with junior cornerback Dijon Johnson and nose tackle Stephon Shivers, who was dismissed from the team after being charged with a third-degree felony for false imprisonment. Johnson, a projected starter, has faced internal discipline for his arrest.

Manuel appeared in three games at tackle in a reserve role before suffering a season-ending injury. He received an 82.9 pass block grade and a 70.2 offensive grade from PFF.

“He’s batting from an injury so it’s a little bit of a slower process,” Florida offensive line coach Rob Sale said of Manuel this spring. “Devin can play both left and right. We moved him over there to right during the spring, to get a little three-way competition over there, to see who the best one is going to come out of this thing.”

Manuel returned to the field this spring and competed for the starting job at right tackle with redshirt freshmen Bryce Lovett and Caden Jones. Manuel spent three years at Arkansas prior to Florida, making four starts at left tackle in 2023 and starting the last three consecutive games.

“He’s progressing back pretty good … coming back from injury from the fall,” UF assistant offensive line coach Jonathan Decoster said of Manuel this spring. “I think Devon is a guy that, he’s like an old wily vet. Like it may not be perfect technique wise, but he gets a job done, if that makes sense. I think he’s really good anchor with bull rush, and he’s really super patient in pass protection. He stays square. And I think he does a great job of dictating the pass rush. The moment you open up at tackle in pass rush, you give a guy who’s more athletic than you a lot of options to beat you.”

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