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RBs ? Pierce & Davis-NFL Draft; Johnson & Etienne sign with UF-Nay'Quan ?

Jeff from Jax

Jeff from Jax

Gator Great
Dec 2, 2004
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The transfer portal lists Montrell Johnsson 4* as heading to UF from ULL, but shows a 100% indicator instead of committed, either paperwork isn't complete - Academics ? or he is still undecided.

Emani Bailey has transferred & committed to TCU

Trevonte Citizen is predicted - FWIW - 100% to LSU where he was formerly committed

Three scholarship RBs on the roster -
Nay'Quan Wright - in last year's rotation; but injury status unknown to me
Demarckus Bowman - 5* transfer but few carries
Lorenzo Lingard - 5* transfer but few carries

Montrell Johnson - 4* transfer, committed but unsigned
Trevor Etienne - 4* committed to UF but unsigned till Feb 2 - NSD

Assuming Johnson & Etienne complete all their paperwork & Academically qualify Is 5 RBs enough or do we fight diminishing returns & keep recruiting ?
 
Jeff,
The obvious answer is if they stay healthy we’ll be fine. The grind of an SEC schedule can take its toll. Probably need a couple more.
 
PacoGator19 said:
5 is what we had this past year
Click to expand...
We actually had a 6th RB, Carlson Joseph:

Carlson Joseph - Football - Florida Gators

Carlson Joseph (38) RB - Pronunciation Season Stats (PDF) Career Stats (PDF) ACADEMIC HONORS Two-time SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll (2022-23) 2023:
floridagators.com floridagators.com
He wasn't highly recruited and walked on, but had a jersey so maybe he gets an opportunity in the spring to prove his worth to a new comes. Came from a solid high school program.
 
Unless you have an E.Smith or a F.Taylor, using a committee works best imo. And even then, having 1-2 getting some carries is a good deal because bad things often happen with full time single RB's...

UF's best rushing seasons on record came with committee rushing that sometimes included QB's and WR's getting important carries. (Tebow and Harvin for the easy example).
 
instaGATOR said:
Unless you have an E.Smith or a F.Taylor, using a committee works best imo. And even then, having 1-2 getting some carries is a good deal because bad things often happen with full time single RB's...

UF's best rushing seasons on record came with committee rushing that sometimes included QB's and WR's getting important carries. (Tebow and Harvin for the easy example).
Click to expand...
A lot has changed since those days. Running backs are greedy and want tons of carries. As long as Billy can get them to buy in then it will work out just fine.
 
TEBOW TIME said:
A lot has changed since those days. Running backs are greedy and want tons of carries. As long as Billy can get them to buy in then it will work out just fine.
Click to expand...
I want TEAM guys, not selfish greedy drama queens,,, but maybe that's just me.... Davis-513/Pierce-586/Wright-358 were TEAM 1st guys that combined for 1,457 Yds. (that's with injury protection when any one went down)
 
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TEBOW TIME said:
A lot has changed since those days. Running backs are greedy and want tons of carries. As long as Billy can get them to buy in then it will work out just fine.
Click to expand...

Well we are running more often than not so lots of carries to go around
 
instaGATOR said:
Unless you have an E.Smith or a F.Taylor, using a committee works best imo. And even then, having 1-2 getting some carries is a good deal because bad things often happen with full time single RB's...

UF's best rushing seasons on record came with committee rushing that sometimes included QB's and WR's getting important carries. (Tebow and Harvin for the easy example).
Click to expand...
For the most part I agree. Here's the numbers for Florida:
UF's best rushing year was 1975 when we ran for 3326 yards, 302 yards per game. Jimmy Dubose had 1402 of those yards. #2 was Tony Green with 502. Seven other guys had between 82 and 321 yards each.
Our second best rushing year was 2008, when we ran for 3236 yards, 231 yards per game. Tim Tebow led the team with 673 yards, Percy Harvin had 660, Chris Rainey had 652, Jeff Demps 605 and Emmanuel Moody 417.
Our third best rushing year was 2009, when we rushed for 3105 yards, 222 yards per game. Tebow again led the way with 910 yards, Demps had 745, Rainey 575 and Moody 378.
4th best rushing season was 1974, when we rushed for 2990 yards, but 272 yards per game (2nd most ypg next to '75). Tony Green led the way with 929 yards, Dubose had 746, Larry Brinson had 434 and 4 more guys were between 120 and 398 yards rushing.
5th best rushing team was a dead tie between the 1977, 1984 and 1989 teams, who each had 2693 yards on the ground, 245 yards per game average. The 1977 team was led by Tony Green with 696 yards, Terry LeCount had 626, Willie Wilder had 495 and Wes Chandler 353. The 1984 team was led by Neal Anderson with 916 yards, John L. Williams with 793 and Lorenzo Hampton with 693. (That was my favorite Gator rushing attack of all time). The 1989 team was dominated by Emmitt Smith, who had 1599 yards rushing, with Willie McClendon having 510 yards.
The next best rushing team was in 1976, when we had 2617 yards and a 238 yards per game average. That team was led by Willie Wilder at 654, Tony Green with 567 and 4 other guys all over 200 yards each.
So except for the 1975 season when Jimmy Dubose was THE guy and 1989 when Emmitt was THE guy, our other top rushing years were when 3+ guys shared the load. Even in '75 when Dubose had 1402 yards, 8 other guys combined for over 1800 yards to compliment him. It seems to me that it's always better to have multiple "starters" at RB who are fairly equal in talent so you can keep fresh legs on the field. The exception would be when you have a super stud back there like Herschel Walker, Earl Campbell, Emmitt Smith, etc. and even then you need a couple of guys able to give your main guy a breather or step in if he gets hurt.
It's interesting to me that probably my 2 favorite running backs at Florida, Errict Rhett and Fred Taylor, were not on any of UF's top 8 rushing teams because they played during Spurrier's fun & gun years.
 
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Good stuff, and all true ocala, and we both liked Neil,John, & Lorenzo. I believe that they were the 1st Gator 3-some to all have over 600 in a season. (Tebow's group had 4 over 600)

As to Rhett, is he still the only RB in SEC history to run for over 4,000 and receive for over 1,000 in a career?

Some don't realize just how much SOS ran the ball, with RB's that could also catch it coming out of the backfield.
 
instaGATOR said:
Good stuff, and all true ocala, and we both liked Neil,John, & Lorenzo. I believe that they were the 1st Gator 3-some to all have over 600 in a season. (Tebow's group had 4 over 600)

As to Rhett, is he still the only RB in SEC history to run for over 4,000 and receive for over 1,000 in a career?

Some don't realize just how much SOS ran the ball, with RB's that could also catch it coming out of the backfield.
Click to expand...
I don't know how to find the SEC record for over 4000 yards rushing and 1000 yards receiving, but I do know that only Herschel Walker & Bo Jackson had more total yards from the RB position than Rhett. He was, also, the first player in Division 1 history to rush for more than 4100 yards and catch more than 140 passes. I remember the very rainy, muddy game against Georgia in Jacksonville in 1993 where SOS just decided to give the game to Rhett and he slogged the Gators to victory. I was there soaked to the bone but enjoyed every minute.

www.amazingblazezine.com

The Timeout Game - Starring Errict Rhett — The Amazing Blaze Zine

In the infamous 1993 ‘Timeout Game’ aka ‘Mud Bowl’ between Florida & Georgia, Running Back Errict Rhett ran for 183 yards & 2 Touchdowns, including a 1 yard leap over the pile to cap off a 21 play drive in the 3rd quarter. Rhett earned All-American honors while carrying the rock for
www.amazingblazezine.com www.amazingblazezine.com

fanbuzz.com

Errict Rhett is Florida's True Rushing King, But Where is He Now?

The University of Florida's all-time great college football players are all obvious. Their names are plastered on bricks outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Some are immortalized forever in statue form. Tim Tebow is the greatest college quarterback of all time. Steve Spurrier and Danny Wuerffel...
fanbuzz.com fanbuzz.com
 
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1993 Post UGly game on Jawja fan bumper stickers:

TIME OUT MY ASS ---- 😂 🤣 😂
 
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Nicktheslick said:
Jeff,
The obvious answer is if they stay healthy we’ll be fine. The grind of an SEC schedule can take its toll. Probably need a couple more.
Click to expand...
Nick,

After reading this tidbit from two days ago, you could be right.
BUT
We may NOT have 5 RBs !

"...Nay’Quan Wright, the only Florida running back with a decent amount of snaps played, is expected to miss spring as he recovers from an injury, but a not-so-cryptic post on social media following Johnson’s announcement (Montrell Johnson - 4* transfer,from ULL) may indicate his intention to enter the transfer portal.

"Hmm...this page doesn’t exist. Try searching for something else.Search"

Send out an alert !

Nay'Quan's Twitter page is now missing. So I am unable to quote his post.

https://gatorswire.usatoday.com/202...l-transfer-portal-montrell-johnson-louisiana/

"...One of the hottest running back prospects in the 2022 college football recruiting class, four-star TreVonte’ Citizen, has been on the Gators’ radar for quite some time.

On Thursday, according to On3’s Corey Bender, the 5-foot-11-inch, 218-pound back announced that he will be making an official visit to the University of Florida on Jan. 22."

https://gatorswire.usatoday.com/202...l-recruiting-trevonte-citizen-official-visit/
 
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TEBOW TIME said:
A lot has changed since those days. Running backs are greedy and want tons of carries. As long as Billy can get them to buy in then it will work out just fine.
Click to expand...
I don't know that I agree with this. Guys want two things: 1) To showcase their talents to the NFL and 2) Have a long career once they get there. Nobody is going to be drafted any higher because he ran for 1,500 yards in college instead of 800. They want enough game tape to show their football savvy, and they have the combine to show their height, weight and speed. You explain to a kid you want to win games with him AND help him maximize his NFL dollars, he's going to like that line of thinking.

Of course, NIL throws a bit of a monkey wrench into the mix, but we need to see more about how it's going to work before we can really tell the impact. Will NIL contracts have incentive and/or performance clauses? Start 6 games get a 10K bonus, run for 1,000 yards get a 5K bonus, etc. If that occurs, then yeah, I can see friction about how players are used.

So maybe yes, maybe no on your assertion.
 
LizardGrad89 said:
Of course, NIL throws a bit of a monkey wrench into the mix, but we need to see more about how it's going to work before we can really tell the impact. Will NIL contracts have incentive and/or performance clauses? Start 6 games get a 10K bonus, run for 1,000 yards get a 5K bonus, etc.
Click to expand...
LG89,

Just starting Chicken & Burgers on the grill - your question on performance based incentives has ruined my meal !

With the hope of returning the favor -

America based on free enterprise & Laissez-faire capitalism !

Sooo ! On to final Jeopardy & our next question -

Can you pay a preferred walk-on NIL $$$ ?

In case you run out of scholarships ?

LOL ! If not, why not ?
 
Jeff from Jax said:
LG89,

Just starting Chicken & Burgers on the grill - your question on performance based incentives has ruined my meal !

With the hope of returning the favor -

America based on free enterprise & Laissez-faire capitalism !

Sooo ! On to final Jeopardy & our next question -

Can you pay a preferred walk-on NIL $$$ ?

In case you run out of scholarships ?

LOL ! If not, why not ?
Click to expand...
Yes you can pay a PWO or any member of any college sports team NIL money.
 
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Jeff from Jax said:
Tennessee,

Who cares about counters & scholarship limitations when walk-ons don't count - right ?

Back to the days when Bear Bryant had 120 players dressed out for a home game !

Let the Good Times Roll !
Click to expand...
Sign your 25 to ships each season, get 3 or 4 highly rated recruits to walk on, pay them a profit, pay their tuition and there you go.
 
HS Recruit Rankings per 247

#16 RB Nay'Quan Wright 5-8 188 rsJr **** - 0.9061 Natl 243 (now 5-9 196)
(playing behind 2 in NFL, and 2 more now on their way to the NFL)
He's a 2X SEC Academic Honor Rollee, and a 4.0 character Gator.
Career Rushing - 26 Gms, 142 for 563 yds, 4.0 YPC, 3 TD's, L-34
Career Receiving - 34 for 401 yds, 12.7 yds/rec, 1 TD, L-51

#60 RB Montrell Johnson 5-10 184 So *** - 0.8572 (now at 5-11 200, ULL xfer)

#15 RB Trevor Etiennne 5-8 218 Fr **** - 0.9258 Natl 183

If he returns by Fall healthy, he's the most experienced RB on roster and best RB receiver.
Why would he want to xrfer out??? Yes/No on degree by Fall?
And yes, Spring & Fall practice is going to be interesting again...
 
LSU could do a clean sweep on all of our UF hopefuls(Mathews, Citizen, Perkins). OVs on the final weekend mean something...
 
SwampLander said:
LSU could do a clean sweep on all of our UF hopefuls(Mathews, Citizen, Perkins). OVs on the final weekend mean something...
Click to expand...
Swamp,

Even if LSU signs all of them - I don't think they will - I'm convinced that Billy will scoop up enough of these players -

Etienne, Savaiinaea, Boardingham, McCoy, Pyburn, Story, Allen, Douglas, et all

to give us a recruiting class much better than we thought we were looking at when he first signed on with the Gators.

Disagree with Country's comment about you can't have too many RBs; only one football & most of them will leave in short order if they don't get enough touches.

Strong Running Game is good; but a diversified offense is a necessity !

We have at least two outstanding RB now on the Roster- three if Nay'Quan is here & healthy. If our new RB Coach - Jabbar Juluke - is worth having, he will get Bowman, Lingard, & all the others up & running !
 
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If it came to too many RB's on the roster, which one could best fill a 50/50 WR/RB Harvin type role?

Class for 2022:

Nay'Quan Wright' 5-9 196 rsJr
Lorenzo Lingard 6-0 203 rsSr (UM xfer)
Demarkcus Bowman 5-10 193 rsSo (CU xfer)
-=-=-=-=-=-
RB Montrell Johnson 5-11 200 Fr (ULL xfer)
2021 Fr - 162 for 838 Yds, 5.2 YPC, 12 TD's, L-99, 0 Fum.
Rec 6 for 53 Yds, 8.8 Yds/Rec, L-15
-=-=-=-=-=-
RB Trevor Etienne 5-9 218
Or Maybe...
QB-dt Emory Jones 6-2 211 rsJr
 
Going into NSD

2022 RB's - 6
RB/ST Lorenzo Lingard 6-0 203 rsSr (13 Gm, 11 for 43, 3.9 ypc)
RB/WR Nay'Quan Wright 5-9 196 rsJr (2021 12 Gm, 76 for 326, 4.3 ypc)
RB Demarkcus Bowman 5-10 193 rsSo (2021 5 Gm, 14 for 81, 5.8 ypc)
RB Carlson Joseph 5-10 191 rsSo (DNP)
-----
RB Montrell Johnson 5-11 200 So (xfer ULL)
162 for 838, 5.2 ypc

RB Trevor Etienne 5-9 218 Fr - HS Sr 7 Gm
R 109 for 1,344 yds, 12.3 ypc, L-98, 20 TD's
Rec 4 for 29 yds,7.3 Yds/Rec
==========

2022 QB's - 6
Emory Jones 6-2 211 rsSr - 1A Starter
Anthony Richardson 6-4 236 rsSo - 1B Starter
-----
Carlos Del Rio-Wilson 6-2 225 rsFr - DNP
Jalen Kitna 6-4 210 rsFr - DNP
-----
Jack Miller 6-4 210 rsFr (xfer tOSU - P 7 of 14 for 50 yds)

Max Brown 6-3 200 Fr
(HS Sr - P 2,750 yds, 71%, 41 TD's, 4 Ints - R 1,343 yds, 20 TD's)
Total Off: 4,093 yds, 61 TD's
 
instaGATOR said:
If it came to too many RB's on the roster, which one could best fill a 50/50 WR/RB Harvin type role?

Class for 2022:

Nay'Quan Wright' 5-9 196 rsJr
Lorenzo Lingard 6-0 203 rsSr (UM xfer)
Demarkcus Bowman 5-10 193 rsSo (CU xfer)
-=-=-=-=-=-
RB Montrell Johnson 5-11 200 Fr (ULL xfer)
2021 Fr - 162 for 838 Yds, 5.2 YPC, 12 TD's, L-99, 0 Fum.
Rec 6 for 53 Yds, 8.8 Yds/Rec, L-15
-=-=-=-=-=-
RB Trevor Etienne 5-9 218
Or Maybe...
QB-dt Emory Jones 6-2 211 rsJr
Click to expand...
I guess you missed the fact that the coach looking for someone in a "percy-type role" is no longer at UF.
 
So you're saying that Billy is to stupid to even look for someone that could play in a Percy type role.... 🙄
 
instaGATOR said:
So you're saying that Billy is to stupid to even look for someone that could play in a Percy type role.... 🙄
Click to expand...
No, I'm saying you are assuming there is a place in his scheme for a Percy-type role. Not everybody lines up a WR in the backfield.

I'm also saying you are too stupid to realize it's "too stupid" not "to stupid".

I'm ALSO wondering why you haven't been screaming for Billy to hire your all-time favorite Defensive Coordinator, Third-And Grantham.
 
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TEBOW TIME said:
View embedded media


1 BAD MAN at the 2:10 and 2:40 mark
Click to expand...
Tebow,

Thanks for posting the highlight clip ! Damn Impressive !

FWIW, Don't know how good his hands are; but I think Lingard has more speed & would make a better "Percy" type WR/RB.

Don't know if Billy will use any 2-back sets, but Lingard combined with a power back - ala Csonka & Kick would work for me !

"...He (Csonka) may be the only running back (in NFL history) to receive a personal foul for unnecessary roughness while running the ball, when, in a game against the Buffalo Bills in 1970, he knocked out Safety John Pitts with a forearm shot that was more like a right cross."

View Csonka's forearm shot at 1:05 of this video



miami-dolphins-jim-kiick-and-larry-csonka-august-07-1972-sports-illustrated-cover.jpg
 
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