GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- College football's new redshirt rule has already caused major ripples across the sport, with a handful of high-profile players opting to leave their programs mid-season now that they can preserve a year of eligibility by sitting out before they play in five games this fall.

The NCAA's new rule, adopted this year, allows players to redshirt assuming they play in four games or fewer in a given season.

For some, that means making a decision about whether to continue with the current season if they are dissatisfied with how things are unfolding or to sit out and then transfer following the season.

Already there have been several high-profile players opting for the latter.

Auburn lost starting wide receiver Nate Craig-Myers when he announced he would transfer from the program last week. On Monday, news came out that Oklahoma State receiver Jalen McCleskey would redshirt and then pursue a transfer because he felt he wasn't getting the ball enough.

McCleskey has had one of the most productive careers of any receiver in the country, tallying 167 catches for 1,865 yards and 17 touchdowns for the Cowboys. If guys like him are transferring, there isn't a coach in the country that shouldn't be treating the new rule with a huge degree of caution.

Florida coach Dan Mullen was asked about the change on Monday and what he's done to handle potential transfers. Already he's had one player, running back Adarius Lemons, announce his transfer after playing in the second game of the season. Will there be others?

"I spend a lot of time talking to our young guys about development," Mullen said. "Development is a tough deal because we live in an instant gratification society. Right? You guys are tweeting it out. ‘Oh, I was the first one to tweet what he just said.’ And I’ve got to have it now. That’s anti-development. Development is a process, a long process that takes time to become the player that you want to become. Development is a marathon, not a sprint."

In other words, coaches better be ready to have a good reason for why a certain player isn't going to be in the plans the rest of the year. Why he may not be getting quite as much playing time as he wants.

Some of the power has shifted to the players, who now have a bit more freedom to make decisions within a given season.

Mullen has taken advantage of the new rule to play every single new signee that has been available to play in games. in the past, some of those players might have gotten disgruntled during a redshirt year when they knew they wouldn't see the field. Now, though, Mullen will have to start making decisions on who plays past that four-game mark. That's where things can get tricky.

"We’ve talked to a lot of our guys about it," Mullen said. "Talked about the benefits of using it potentially to their advantage, where, I think [if] you look, we have a lot of our young guys have played, have gotten into games and played. And there’s going to be more opportunities for young guys to get into games and to play."

Some who haven't quite hit the four-game mark already might be held until the end of the season.

Then, if Florida isn't in contention in the SEC East, they could potentially play in the last game or two of the season and/or a bowl game. Get them a little bit of experience heading into the offseason and whet players' appetite some.

But the bottom line: There's a new wrinkle to monitor this fall.

Coaches have to be aware of it with the players. And players need to be able to sort through exactly what they can believe and what they're willing to believe in terms of what's best for their future.

"I think we spend a lot of time with our younger players talking about development, and where they can develop and how they can develop and what the future is going to hold for them," Mullen said.

Below is a look at the game count for Florida players who have not yet redshirted in their career. Theoretically, any of these players could just choose to sit out the rest of the season and transfer if they're not happy with how things are going.

Good luck, coaches.

2018 Game Count for Non-Redshirt Players

4 - WR Tyrie Cleveland

4 - DT Elijah Conliffe

4 - CB Trey Dean

4 - DB Chauncey Gardner-Johnson

4 - WR Trevon Grimes

4 - WR Joshua Hammond

4 - CB CJ Henderson

4 - DB John Huggins

4 - OT Martez Ivey

4 - OT Fredrick Johnson

4 - OG Tyler Jordan

4 - LB Vosean Joseph

4 - K Evan McPherson

4 - RB Lamical Perine

4 - RB Dameon Pierce

4 - DE Jachai Polite

4 - DT Tedarrell Slaton

4 - DB Donovan Stiner

4 - WR Freddie Swain

4 - OT Jawaan Taylor

4 - S Jeawon Taylor

3 - DB Amari Burney

3 - DT Kyree Campbell

3 - RB Malik Davis

3 - CB Brian Edwards

3 - WR Kadarius Toney

2 - OL Christopher Bleich

2 - WR Daquon Green

2 - DE CeCe Jefferson

2 - TE Kyle Pitts

2 - LB Umstead Sanders

2 - CB Marco Wilson

1 - RB Iverson Clement

1 - OL Richard Gouraige

1 - QB Emory Jones

1 - TE Dante Lang

1 - DE Malik Langham

1 - OG Griffin McDowell

1 - LB David Reese

1 - LB David Reese II