Reports: Florida cornerback Chris Williamson to transfer

Florida Gators junior cornerback Chris Williamson will transfer from the program, per multiple reports.

While neither Williamson nor Florida have mentioned his transfer publicly, Williamson is no longer listed on Florida’s official roster, and does not appear in a piece on Florida’s defensive backs published Thursday by the program’s official site.

After being hailed as a coup for signing with Florida in Jim McElwain’s first recruiting class with the Gators in 2015, Williamson was a lightly-used corner in his first two years in Gainesville, starting just once — against UMass in 2016, in a game in which he was memorably burned — and playing most of his snaps on special teams. And even there, he was not a major contributor: Williamson had five tackles in nine games in 2016 before suffering a season-ending knee injury, as many as wide receiver Ahmad Fulwood and one more than punter Johnny Townsend.

Given all that writing on the wall and Florida’s bumper crop of defensive backs in the 2017 class, the window for Williamson to contribute on the field at Florida looked very small, and it would be no shock if his transfer is motivated by playing time first and foremost.

We wish Williamson the best in his athletic and academic future.