Creative personnel packages Florida should utilize in 2019

As Dan Mullen enters his second year with the keys to the University of Florida football team, it's time for him to start toying with the bonus features of his shiny car.

With his system in place and an expectation for players to grow in their second season within it, Mullen can try new things, and push the limits of his personnel.

Given that ability, here are two personnel packages the Gators should run in 2019. Now, neither of these proposed packages have been seen or are known publicly. The team could very well have these packages in place and we just don't know it yet. What we do know is that Florida has the personnel to run them and create mismatches.

Offense: 20/30 personnel "burst" package

The Gators have enough fire-power on offense to run just about every personnel package imaginable - they're at least three players deep at every skill position.

The 20 personnel (two non-QB members of the backfield, typically running backs) "burst" package would be ideal in rushing situations, including options, reverses, and trick plays. Several players would fit in, but perhaps no one more than quarterback Emory Jones, running back Malik Davis, and wide receivers Kadarius Toney and Jacob Copeland.

Talk about game-changing speed and burst.

Jones, who is playing the waiting game for Florida's starting quarterback gig, should carve out some sort of role within the offense this year despite Feleipe Franks owning the QB1 label. The former four-star prospect was one of the top dual-threat QBs in the 2018 class and was sparingly utilized as a rusher during his freshman season, in which he earned a redshirt.

Davis has been knocked out of two consecutive seasons with lower-body injuries, but has flashed game-changing speed when he's been on the field. His ability to utilize his speed to bounce outside led to his whopping 6.7 yards per carry on 79 attempts as a true freshman.

Toney is arguably the most explosive athlete on the Gators' offense, as seen by his 10.9 yards per touch in 2018. No, that's not per reception - per touch. And he rushed the ball on 21 of his 46 total touches, averaging a yard more on carries than receptions (11.4 to 10.4, respectively).

If Toney isn't the most explosive athlete on Florida's offense, there's a chance that Copeland is - and we haven't even seen what he can do for the offense in a game yet. While he's been healthy in fall camp, Copeland has looked silky smooth in his routes, explosive with the ball in his hands, and even received carries in the run game.

Florida intends on being a run-heavy team once again after rushing on 59.21% of snaps last year, ranking 29th in the FBS. In order to spread the ball around to the utmost potential, a package involving these four players in rushing situations can help do just that.

Having four players on the field who can comfortably receive carries, run options and reverses out of the backfield makes the run game insanely unpredictable for opposing defenses. When you consider the skill-set that each of those players possesses, the package becomes downright dangerous.

In 20 personnel, the Gators would likely put Davis and Toney in the backfield with Jones taking shotgun snaps, and Copeland playing slot receiver, or vice versa between Toney and Copeland. This could also be run or motioned into 30 personnel (three non-QB members of the backfield), with all three skills players within the tackle box as a pistol/diamond formation - a power-run-game evolution to the "Air Raid" offense.

From there, Mullen and his fellow play callers can get extremely creative with spreading the ball among multiple high-profile athletes. How fun does that sound?

Defense: "Lightning"/"NASCAR" pass rush package

This package was made popular by Jacksonville Jaguars during the Gus Bradley era - a disciple of Seattle Seahawks head coach and defensive mastermind Pete Carroll. Bradley didn't come close to Carroll's standards as a head coach, but his idea to revolutionize a four-man pass rush was super intriguing.

Essentially, the "lightning" package came out when the Jaguars' defense forced 3rd-and-long situations. Bradley would typically substitute three, and in some situations even four, pass-rushing specialists onto the defensive line. His pass-rush specialist was called the LEO, which was basically a weak-side defensive end.

Chances of the opposition selecting to pound the ball in the run game in these situations were slim, and gave the Jaguars flexibility to put their best pass rushers on the field in order to wreak havoc.

Now, Jacksonville's flaw was they didn't have the most talented personnel to make it work, but the Denver Broncos ran the same concept last year in their "NASCAR" package in 2018. Denver's pass rush unit recorded 44 sacks, ranking eighth in the NFL, and saw rookie pass rusher Bradley Chubb record an impressive 12 sacks.

The purpose of the package is to get into the backfield quickly, without utilizing additional pass rushers blitzing. Getting the four fastest, most technically developed pass rushers into the backfield with seven defenders in coverage is an ultimate source of pressure on conversion downs.

Florida has the personnel on defense to adopt this pass-rush package and make it deadly.

Defensive end Jabari Zuniga, who is coming off of a 6.5 sack and 11 tackle-for-loss 2018 campaign, is the clear-cut leader of the line and blends power with impressive burst off of the line for a 6-4, 257 lb. edge rusher. He also has experience playing defensive tackle, a position in which he played 14% of his snaps in 2018 according to Pro Football Focus.

Opposite of Zuniga in the base package is graduate-transfer BUCK rushing end Jonathan Greenard. The 6-4, 263 lb. defensive end missed all but nine snaps in 2018 at Louisville due to a broken wrist, but has experience in defensive coordinator Todd Grantham's scheme and tallied 9.5 sacks and 22 tackles for loss the two seasons prior. He converts speed to power off of the line well, and flashed an arsenal of pass rush moves in the Gators' spring game while re-sharpening his technique post-wrist injury.

Like Zuniga, Greenard has experience playing inside as well - but Zuniga is more polished in that respect.

One of the most exciting, yet underrated, players along the Gators' defensive line is redshirt sophomore Zachary Carter - who absolutely factors into this package. The 6-4, 263 lb. lineman has limited experience due to the talent that has been ahead of him in two years at UF, but is on the breakout-season radar for 2019. Carter has been a camp standout so far, earning praise from teammates and has arguably moved better in drills than any other lineman.

The cherry on top? Carter has edge and interior flexibility, just like Zuniga and Greenard.

The last spot of the front four could go a couple of different ways. Newly-added pass rusher Brenton Cox Jr., who joined the team as a transfer from Georgia last week, would be a perfect outside rusher in this situation with plenty of raw pass-rushing skills. However, he has to apply for and receive an eligibility waiver from both the NCAA and SEC in order to play in 2019.

Prior to Cox Jr.'s transfer, Jeremiah Moon and true freshmen Mohamoud Diabate and Khris Bogle were expected to serve as primary BUCK depth, so they could factor into this package as well.

An ideal version of this package would have Cox Jr. and Greenard playing the edge with their ability to thrive in space, paired with explosion the interior from Zuniga and Carter.

With plenty of quick-twitch, capable pass rushers on the roster, Florida can deploy a "lightning", or whatever they choose to call it, package in 2019 in order to create pressure on conversion downs. Pairing that rush with Florida's polished pass defenders C.J. Henderson, Marco Wilson, Trey Dean, Amari Burney, and others makes the package even more realistic and appealing.