Veteran transfer portal safety visiting Florida football this weekend

The Gators are hosting this well-experienced transfer portal safety this weekend in the Swamp.

Florida football has a Herculean task ahead of it when it comes to the NCAA transfer portal. Currently sitting at No. 13 in 247Sports’ transfer portal rankings having lost 23 players while gaining just nine, there is still room for more additions to the 2024 roster.

The Gators need help at every position if we are being honest with ourselves. But the defensive backfield might be the area where Billy Napier and Co. could use the most improvement.

That is where former Washington Huskies safety [autotag]Asa Turner[/autotag] enters the picture for the Orange and Blue. The 6-foot-3-inch, 200-pound defensive back originally out of Carlsbad, California, will be making an official visit to the Swamp on the weekend of Jan. 20-21, according to Swamp247.

The Golden State product appeared in all four of Washington’s games during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and followed that up with 10 appearances over each of the next two seasons. In 43 total games played over four years in Seattle, he amassed 148 total tackles (96 solo) along with seven tackles for a loss, eight passes defended, six interceptions and a fumble recovery.

However, he played in only four regular-season in 2023 games due to an injury hand injury. Subsequently, he used his redshirt status to retain one final year of eligibility, despite appearing in all three of the Huskies’ postseason games this season.

Turner has a connection to Florida’s football program through nascent secondary coach Will Harris, who spent the 2018-21 seasons with UW.

Last season’s Gators squad was abysmal when it came to explosive plays through the air, ranking at No. 125 nationally in passing yards allowed per attempt against FBS teams (8.5) and No. 87 in passing yards allowed per game (240.9).

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