With Johnson's injury, Florida depth will get its first serious test

Montrell Johnson Jr. has more career yards than any SEC running back (Photo by Chris Spears)

Depth, which Billy Napier discussed in his opening remarks after Saturday’s practice, is about to get its first serious test. Running back Montrell Johnson Jr., whose 2,496 career rushing yards are the most of any running back in the Southeastern Conference, has undergone an arthroscopic procedure on his knee that is described as routine. In that no one heals at the same pace with any arthroscopic procedure, Johnson could be back in a couple of weeks or he could miss the remainder of fall camp and perhaps one or more games once the season begins.

After Saturday’s practice, Napier praised Florida’s depth without going into the injury to Johnson: “We've worked hard to build this roster, we have more competitive depth, and I think that's proven to be true on offense, defense and special teams,” he said. The depth at running back will be put to the task in the next three weeks with the season opener with Miami looming 27 days from today.

The good news for the Gators is Johnson’s backups don’t lack for talent. From top to bottom, this is the most talented running backs room Napier has had since he’s been here. Talent is plentiful, but other than sophomore Treyaun Webb, there isn’t a back with even a single down of SEC experience on the roster.

A year ago as the backup to Johnson and Trevor Etienne, who has since transferred to Georgia, Webb (5-11, 211) gained 163 yards on 26 carries. He had 14 carries for 71 yards against McNeese State and gained 70 on four carries against Vanderbilt. In the Vandy game, Webb showed the ability to access another gear when he got to the second level and sprinted for a 43-yard gain.

Behind Webb are Ja’Kobi Jackson (5-11, 209, RJR), Jadan Baugh (6-1, 227, FR) and KD Daniels (6-0, 197, FR) Jackson didn’t see any action after transferring in from juco. Baugh and Daniels were still in high school. Jackson ran for more than 1,000 yards in juco prior to transferring to UF. Baugh, Florida’s biggest back, was one of the surprise stars of the spring game, showing real power while at the same time quick feet to make jump cuts. Daniels ran for 2,797 yards and 29 touchdowns as a high school senior in Mississippi. He has real breakaway speed.

The four backups can all carry the football, but can they catch the ball well out of the backfield (Johnson has 48 career catches) and can they handle blitzers or EDGE rushers one-on-one in pass protection? Those might be the tougher questions that have to be answered between now and Miami.

Some Napier observations from Saturday:

Only one Division I quarterback in the country has more career starts than Graham Mertz (Photo by Chris Spears)

Quarterback Graham Mertz: “He's just got great energy about himself, affects other people in a positive way. Extremely detailed. Great note-taker. Great in the unit meetings. Great in the position meetings, and he's a pro. I think offense usually takes a little while to get in some rhythm. We got to kind of get the install down and get the finer details all around him. Protect him, get open for him, and then be on the same page and try to stay on schedule. But yeah, Graham Mertz is doing a great job leading the team.”

Freshman QB DJ Lagway: “There's two 4D Gator lesson plans each week. They get them on Monday, they got to turn them in on Friday, the padding that the quarterback is required to do all throughout the summer. You know, he just jumped into that for the first time and I think he made tremendous growth, his knowledge of defense, yeah, and I think he's improved fundamentally, too. I think the ball's coming out more consistently, his feet have been polished up. He's getting better.”

Wide receiver Elijhah Badger, transfer from Arizona State: “He's a part of a receiver group that is extremely competitive. I think we have, after some of those guys that have played a lot of football – Tre (Wilson), Chim (Dike), Kahleil (Jackson) – then you kind of get into the next tier of player and all those guys are doing great. And that's one of the positions on our team where some of the roles are to be determined, but I do think that Badger has made progress and it showed up I think yesterday is where I was like, 'Okay, I can kind of see … he is explosive, he is athletic, he can run after the catch. He has a vertical threat to his game and he's got play strength and he's got length. He’s a 6-1 guy but he's got great, great length. So yeah, I like the look in his eyes.”

Defensive line depth: “I think we've got a good three-deep, maybe more. Big and long, and I think the weight room work is showing up. But all those guys are doing a good job. It was pretty violent out there last night, let's put it that way. So I think that we're getting better on the edges, too. The inside players ... we got a chance to be pretty good up front. We've got some work to do there. But defensively, I thought last night they got after pretty good.”

Defensive end Joey Slackman: “I'm a Joey Slackman guy. Look, I think Joey brings a maturity and an awareness. I think he's extremely bright. And he's motivated, he's driven, he's a self-starter and he's an alpha. I think he does a great job, he brings other things besides being a 6-3, 315-pound athlete to the table … he brings it. He's consistent. His motor's always running and I think he has the ability to affect other people. That's one of the reasons we brought him here.”

6-7, 290-pound recently added juco transfer Tarvorise Brown: “He played EDGE in high school, right? So he was 230, yeah, just a big athletic guy. He's got some unique traits, right? And I think he kind of fell in our lap to some degree. We were recruiting for January and then found out he was a qualifier and then it just ended up working out. So far so good. I think the reps he's taken, he's proved to have all the functional movement, the power, the length. He's a good athlete. I think it's got a chance. He has four (years) to play four, you know, and I think he'll prove to be a good evaluation.”

D-lineman Caleb Banks: “He's 6-5 and three quarters, 320, and he's learning a lot. First time ever playing college football last year, goes into the offseason, has a chance to kind of prepare now, knowing what it's like out there. He's had a good offseason. Just continuing to mature, continuing to be consistent, his work ethic, his practice habits, his mental toughness, because he's certainly very talented. At this level, everybody's got talent, everybody's got work ethic, it's more about the intangibles, right? How we can get better at getting better, and then the intangible parts of the team, and that's the focus with him.”

The schedule: “Maybe it causes them to do a little bit extra. Maybe it causes him to be a little more focused, a little more detailed. You're planning and preparing and working hard to prepare for a great challenge … this team has been really close, and we have some experience in that locker room. We're not just talking about all these teams that were ranked or are ranked. We've been on the grass with them before. And I think we've got an understanding on where the gap is at and what we need to do to make up that gap. Right now, we're focused on Florida, and we got to control what we can control, eliminate, minimize our errors. It's kind of like sharpening the axe to get ready to go chop down that tree. Sharpen that axe, which we can.”