There is no shortage of talent in Florida's 2021 backfield
It’s a month until August camp opens for the Gators, time to begin evaluating the 2021 team position-by-position, starting with the backfield. Dan Mullen may not have the household names at quarterback and running back that he had the last three seasons, but from a pure talent standpoint, the Gators aren’t lacking and may, in fact, be the most talented Florida backfield in years.
Here is the breakdown of the four scholarship quarterbacks and five scholarship running backs on the Florida roster as of July 8, 2021.
QUARTERBACKS (4)
Emory Jones (6-2, 210, RJR): More than once during spring practice, Mullen let it be known that while Jones is a fast, elusive runner he is also a very capable passer with an arm that is both strong enough and accurate enough to make all the throws he demands in his offensive scheme. Jones spent the last two seasons backing up Kyle Trask more as a change of pace runner to Trask’s strong pocket presence as a passer. In 2020, Jones ran for 217 yards (6.8 per carry) and two touchdowns. He did throw the ball 32 times (18 completions) for 221 yards and two more TDs. Jones’ career numbers are 92-514 rushing (5.58 per carry) for six touchdowns; 55-86 for 613 yards (7.12 per attempt) and seven touchdowns passing. Because Mullen has put Jones on the field with games on the line in each of the last two seasons, he’s hardly inexperienced and shouldn’t be bothered by large crowds when the Gators go on the road. This is Jones’ fourth year in the program so he is familiar and comfortable running the offense. After two seasons of an offense that essentially started throwing the moment the bus came to a standstill outside the stadium, this will be more run-first to take advantage of Jones’ quick feet but that does not mean the Gators will abandon the pass. Jones has too good an arm for that to happen. Jones is a former 4-star recruit out of Heard County High School in Franklin, Georgia.
Anthony Richardson (6-4, 232, RFR): Richardson is a freak athlete who accounted for more than 6,200 yards of offense and 78 touchdowns (37 passing, 41 running) at Gainesville Eastside where he was a 4-star recruit. He played in four games at Florida in 2020, going 1-2 passing for 27 yards and a touchdown while running for 61 yards on seven carries. He can make all the throws whether in the pocket or on the move. He is very accurate although he needs to develop as a touch passer. Not every throw has to be a 90 mile per hour fast ball. As a runner, he is a long strider who is deceptively very fast and once outside the pocket he’s very capable of turning what appears to be a 5-yard opening into a 25-yard gain. He had a very productive spring in which he constantly pushed Jones. Richardson will see the field early and often in the fall as Mullen starts grooming him to take over as the starter when Jones graduates. Richardson draws a lot of favorable comparisons to another former Mullen-coached quarterback – Dak Prescott, then of Mississippi State, now of the Dallas Cowboys.
Carlos Del Rio-Wilson (6-2, 238, FR): A true dual threat quarterback, Del Rio-Wilson has a very strong arm and the ability to pick up yardage on the ground in huge chunks whether it’s on designed runs or when the pocket breaks down. He is as comfortable as a drop back passer as he is in RPO situations where he gets outside the pocket with the option to throw or run. He throws very well on the move. An early enrollee, Del Rio-Wilson picked up the offense very well in the spring although he does have a habit of locking on to one receiver instead of going through his reads. He goes into fall camp as the No. 3 quarterback. Del Rio-Wilson is a 4-star recruit from Cartersville, Georgia.
Jalen Kitna (6-5, 198, FR): The son of former NFL quarterback Jon Kitna, Jalen has excellent fundamentals when it comes to footwork and throwing mechanics. He has a very strong and accurate arm. He’s more of a pure pocket passer than dual threat guy although he has nice movement in the pocket and is capable of picking up yards when the pocket breaks down. He’s grown an inch since he was recruited and put on about 10-12 pounds of muscle. He has a frame to add another 20-25 pounds of muscle and he may grow another inch or two. He will almost certainly take a redshirt year. A 3-star recruit out of Burleson, Texas, Kitna was an early enrollee who was able to go through a full spring practice.
ASSESSING THE QUARTERBACKS
Although he’s never started a game in three years at Florida, you can’t call Emory Jones inexperienced. Dan Mullen has had a plan in place to prep him for the day he becomes THE MAN in the Florida offense. That time is now. Jones may not have the pocket presence or anticipation that Kyle Trask had but Trask was never a threat to turn a two-yard opening into a 25-yard gain, which is the tradeoff you get with Jones taking the snaps. The option also comes into play with Jones, particularly with Florida’s loaded running back situation. Pro Football Focus projects Jones as a potential top ten pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Expect Mullen to use Richardson in much the same way he used Jones the last two years, which is to say he will be inserted into games often in critical situations. It might be sort of a reversal of roles from the past two years, however. Whereas Jones came in primarily as a runner who was a capable passer Richardson may be inserted in games primarily as a passer who can hurt opponents with his feet as well.
Both Del Rio-Wilson and Kitna are talented young guys who need time to develop and learn the offense through and through. Del Rio-Wilson is probably this year’s mop-up guy while Kitna takes a redshirt.
There is no lack of talent in Florida’s quarterback room. The people who write the preseason football magazines call Jones inexperienced, but he has far more experience than Kyle Trask had when Trask took over for the injured Feleipe Franks in game three of the 2019 season. We all know how that worked out. While the Gators may not throw as often as they have in the past two seasons, the passing game figures to be explosive and quite productive with Jones and Anthony Richardson taking the snaps. Because Jones and Richardson are such gifted runners, opponents won’t have the luxury of dropping seven and eight into coverage as they have in recent years and they will be hesitant to blitz because once these two break containment they can pick up big yardage.
Losing Trask, Kyle Pitts, Kadarius Toney and Trevon Grimes would be a death blow to most offenses. At Florida, it simply means the game changes to fit the personnel. From a 60-40 pass to run ratio the past two years the offense will be more of a 50-50 balance with the possibility of an even heavier tilt to the run. It all starts with the quarterbacks and Dan Mullen has two dual threats who should make for a highly explosive offense.
RUNNING BACKS (5) Malik Davis (5-10, 198, RSR): Spring was a revelation because it brought back memories of the old Malik Davis, the one who averaged 6.66 yards per carry and gained 526 yards as a true freshman in 2017. Seven games into the 2017 season Davis suffered a season-ending injury, then three games into 2018 bad luck struck again with another season-ending injury. After an unproductive 2019 spent healing and regaining his strength, Davis put together a solid 2020 in which he ran for 310 yards and caught 31 passes for 377. He ran for 81 yards against LSU and caught five passes on wheel routes out of the backfield against Georgia for 100 yards. During spring practice, Davis showed the speed and moves that have been missing since the 2018 season have returned, lending expectations that he will have an extensive role in the 2021 offense. Davis is such a good receiver that it’s entirely possible he will see time in the slot as Mullen revives concepts he used as Urban Meyer’s offensive coordinator in 2008 when he had Percy Harvin line up in the slot where he was a lethal pass catcher and regularly shift into the backfield where he was Florida’s most explosive running back. Davis is a former 3-star recruit out of Tampa Jesuit.
Dameon Pierce (5-10, 212, SR): Pierce is Florida’s power back who figures to get the bulk of the between the tackles carries this season. He’s strong enough to run through tackles and quick enough to make people miss once he gets through the hole. He has proven in the previous three seasons that once he gets through the hole and to the second level he can find that extra gear and run past people. Pierce comes into the 2021 season with 1,232 career rushing yards (10 TDs; 5.4 yards per carry) and with long runs of 68, 75 and 38 yards. He has also caught 26 passes for 206 career yards and two touchdowns. Pierce is coming off a 2020 season in which he ran for 503 yards and four touchdowns while catching 17 passes for 156 yards and another TD. Because Florida has emphasized the pass so much in 2018-19, Pierce is relatively fresh and primed to have his best season statistically. The former 4-star recruit out of Bainbridge High School surpassed the legendary Herschel Walker on his way to a top ten spot in Georgia’s career high school rushing records.
Lorenzo Lingard (6-0, 206, RJR): Lingard’s 2020 season never got off the ground after transferring in from Miami. The combination of a high ankle sprain and Covid-19 limited him to spot duty in nine games in which he carried nine times for 32 yards. The former 5-star recruit with sprinter’s speed out of DeLand, was healthy all spring and it was eye-opening as in nearly every full contact practice or scrimmage he broke a run of 40 yards or more. As a freshman at Miami in 2018, Lingard injured his knee six games into the season. He came back his sophomore year but played in only two games. The Miami experience and the high ankle sprain suffered last year do raise questions about his ability to stay healthy, but if Lingard can stay injury-free he has the kind of explosiveness that has been missing from the Florida running game for years.
Nay’Quan Wright (5-9, 197, RSO): Wright had a productive redshirt freshman season in 2020, rushing for 213 yards and two touchdowns while catching 19 passes for 219 yards including three for 71 on wheel routes out of the backfield against Georgia. He put together an excellent spring practice, serving notice to the other four backs that he will see the field early and often in 2021. Wright has surprising power for his size and excellent open field moves. His good hands and ability to pick up yards after the catch make spending some time in the slot a distinct possibility in 2021. Wright is a former 4-star recruit out of Miami Carol City, where he was instrumental in the Chiefs winning the state championship in 2018.
Demarkcus Bowman (5-10, 187, RFR): It only took two games for Bowman to figure out that he made a bad decision to sign with Clemson out of Lakeland High School. So, the former 5-star running back transferred to Florida where he will be eligible immediately. He’s got go the distance speed and the best moves of a Florida running back since Chris Rainey, ironically another Lakeland Dreadnaught. After a spring and summer with Nick Savage, Bowman should be stronger and faster than ever before. From a pure talent perspective, he’s probably the best Florida has had at the position since Percy Harvin and Rainey.
ASSESSING THE RUNNING BACKS
From top to bottom, this is Florida’s deepest and most talented group of running backs in years and it comes in handy since it’s the same year Dan Mullen will transition the offense from more emphasis on the passing game into one that will be at a minimum a 50-50 pass-run mix. Mullen will go into the fall with five backs he can feel comfortable giving the ball to including two or three who might see some of their playing time in the slot.
In Dameon Pierce and Malik Davis, Mullen has two experienced backs with starting experience. Both have averaged more than 5.0 yards per carry in their UF careers and both are coming off productive seasons. Pierce is a hammer between the tackles while Davis relies on quickness. Both are proven pass catchers with three years of experience in the offense. Davis is coming off a spring in which he showed the pre-injury moves and quickness. Because Pierce only has 229 career carries, he has fresh legs that will allow for an increased load.
Nay’Quan Wright had an extremely productive spring. He’s quick to the hole and is exceptional once he gets to the second level. There was already talk of the possibility that he would move into the slot back during the 2020 season. He is likely to see a portion of his playing time there where he can be more of a downfield threat in the passing game and still get carries in the running game.
The X-Factors for the Gators are the two transfers – Lorenzo Lingard and Demarkcus Bowman. For pure breakaway ability, they are the missing links. Lingard hasn’t been healthy since the midway point of the 2018 season at Miami and Bowman is coming off a spring in which he spent most of the time dinged up. If these two are healthy, Mullen has options in the running game that he hasn’t had, not only during his three previous seasons as Florida’s head coach, but in his entire 12 years as a head coach dating back to 2009 at Mississippi State.
If Mullen can keep everybody healthy, then the biggest question will be finding enough ways to get all five of them the football. Mullen has a creative enough mind to do it, he just needs all five of them healthy.
ASSESSING THE BACKFIELD
If you go by the projections offered by the preseason magazines and website gurus, then Florida’s offense is going to take a serious hit in 2021 but people who have examined the Gators closely are far less inclined to write off UF based on Mullen’s history. Mullen’s offenses tend to be highly productive and personnel driven. The personnel for 2021 says the Gators have all the pieces in place to run the ball better than any time since 2009 when the Tim Tebow-led offense averaged 221 yards per game on the ground while running for 30 touchdowns.
We could see an offense in 2021 that closely resembles those of 2008-09 when Tebow gave the Gators a running threat at quarterback. Tebow combined for 1,583 yards and 26 touchdowns on the ground those two seasons as the Gators put together back-to-back 13-1 records. Neither Emory Jones nor Anthony Richardson have Tebow’s raw power but they do have more speed and elusiveness. The option comes back into play for UF in a very big way. Opposing defensive coordinators hate to defend the option when they’re facing a team that has quarterbacks that can throw accurately and receivers who can get downfield. Just because the quarterback isn’t named Kyle Trask and Kyle Pitts, Kadarius Toney and Trevon Grimes have moved on doesn’t mean the Gators won’t throw the football. They will throw all right, although without the same frequency of the past two seasons but because of the running threat the passing game could be every bit as explosive.
Back in 2018, Mullen’s first year at UF, the Gators averaged 213 rushing yards per game with Feleipe Franks at quarterback. Franks gave the Gators enough of a running threat at QB that opened things up for the backfield trio of Jordan Scarlett, Lamical Perine and Dameon Pierce. Both Jones and Richardson are better runners than Franks and Florida’s five-deep backfield has more speed and explosive play possibilities than that 2018 team ever had.
The only sure thing in the Florida backfield right now is Jones, who, barring injury between now and the September 4 opener with Florida Atlantic, will start at quarterback. As for the rest of the backfield, it might look like running back by committee because even a creative offensive mind like Mullen is going to be challenged to find ways to get all five of his backs involved.
Florida may not average 509 yards per game in 2021 as they did last season, but the offense is still going to be highly explosive.
Next week: The receivers.
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