GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida offensive lineman Chris Bleich is no longer currently with the program and has entered his name into the NCAA's transfer portal, multiple sources have confirmed to Swamp247.com.

Bleich is a redshirt freshman who has started eight of nine games for Florida this season. However, he had begun to lose snaps to fellow redshirt freshman Richard Gouraige in recent weeks.

With Bleich struggling, Florida had been shifting left guard Brett Heggie to the right side, making way for Gouraige to step in at left tackle. That move hadn't become permanent, though.

Gouraige took over for Bleich as the starter in the South Carolina game due to Bleich having blisters on his foot, but Bleich regained his starting job against Georgia. He played the first three series of the game but was replaced by Gouraige after a couple early mistakes. He did not re-enter the game.

Now the move to Gouraige in the starting lineup appears to be forced on Florida. Coach Dan Mullen spoke positively about Gouraige's performance on Monday prior to news of Bleich's decision to enter the NCAA transfer portal.

"He did a pretty good job," Mullen said. "The two freshmen on the O-line are growing, developing and they’re getting reps and they’re going to be good in the future. We try to not put too much on individually on either one of them. They’re both developing nicely. I think Richard’s doing a really nice job because we ask him to play multiple positions for depth purposes. I think it’s going to really help him out long term."

In the offseason hopes were high around the Florida program that Bleich could emerge as one of the top starters on an offensive line replacing four of them from the previous year's unit. He certainly had the size, listed at 6 foot 6, 330 pounds. However, Bleich didn't appear to move all that well with his size, frequently struggling to pull cleanly in Florida's power running scheme.

A former three-star prospect, Bleich was tabbed as the No. 458 overall player in the country by the 247Composite coming out of Wyoming Valley West in Plymouth, Pa.

He quickly made an impression on Florida's coaching staff upon arrival in Gainesville, earning four appearances as a true freshman, taking advantage of a newly passed NCAA rule that allowed for players to appear in up to four games while maintaining a redshirt.

With Bleich gone, a four-man signing class on the O-line in 2018 is now down to two. Fellow 2018 signee Noah Banks was forced to medically retire due to epileptic seizures.

The Gators did sign seven offensive linemen in their 2019 recruiting class, but two were not able to enroll. Florida currently has four offensive linemen committed for the 2020 recruiting class.