Looking Back On, and Forward To, Florida's RB Room
Photo: Trevor Etienne; Credit: Alex Shepherd
The Gators are entering a crucial offseason, the second of head coach Billy Napier's tenure, looking to turn things around after Florida posted its second consecutive 6-7 record to conclude the 2022 campaign.
After nearly two dozen scholarship players entered the transfer portal and another ten declared for the NFL Draft, the roster will undoubtedly look a lot different in Napier's second year at the helm.
Therefore, All Gators is breaking down every position on Florida's roster as the offseason gets underway, looking back on every contributor's 2022 season and looking forward to each unit's 2023.
After recently looking at the quarterbacks, we now shift our focus to the other position in the backfield to analyze the past and future at running back.
Looking back
When Napier took over the Florida program last offseason, the understanding was that the rushing game would be a focal point in his offensive attack.
It was just a matter of who would be toting the rock.
While it took some time for the Gators to find the right combination of backs to maximize production — utilizing the entire offseason to work out a rotation before carrying the competition into the regular season — the high usage of the ground game came to fruition as they ran the ball 56% of the time.
Florida walked into the season with the lone incumbent running back in the room with experience, Nay’Quan Wright, controlling starting duties with transfer Montrell Johnson Jr. serving as a rotational piece to his services.
However, the emergence of Johnson — a transfer from Louisiana Lafayette under Napier — and true freshman Trevor Etienne resulted in a noticeable decline in carries for Wright as the year progressed.
It culminated with five carries for 22 yards in the week six matchup against Missouri. He failed to see the field outside of three carries in a blowout of South Carolina in his Gators career.
Johnson and Etienne split the duties from that point forward, producing numbers that landed them both in the top 20 for rushing yards in the SEC while churning out over 200 yards per game. They also ranked in the top 13 among running backs for yards per carry at 6.09 (Etienne, 5th) and 5.43 (Johnson, 13th) yards per carry, respectively.
The offense flashed signs of being one of the best-rushing teams in the nation when operating at peak form, thanks to the complementary contributions from quarterback Anthony Richardson. However, inconsistency became a factor for concern down the stretch of the year.
The fourth backfield member Lorenzo Lingard saw time sparingly, with his most memorable contribution coming against LSU. He totaled three carries for 16 yards in the loss.
All in all, the running back room was one of the noticeable bright spots during the 6-7 season for Florida. Finding two star backs with similar skill sets as physical rushers with the speed and elusiveness to slip through tackles for chunk-yardage gains, the Gators laid the foundation for the offense's future.
Florida’s running back stats from 2022 have been compiled below.
- Johnson: 155 rushes, 841 yards, 10 touchdowns, 12 receptions, 58 yards, one touchdown
- Etienne: 118 rushes, 719 yards, six touchdowns; nine receptions, 66 yards
- Wright: 47 rushes, 190 yards, two touchdowns, one reception, 14 yards
- Lingard: 10 rushes, 75 yards, one touchdown, two receptions, 22 yards
Looking forward
With Wright moving onto USF and Lingard set to finish his collegiate career at Akron, the Gators used the early portion of the offseason to retool the depth at Jabbar Juluke’s position.
However, unlike many other positions, the top of the running back room presents a very similar look heading into the 2023 season as the two-headed monster of Johnson and Etienne returns.
Therefore, the hierarchy of the room is likely set in stone compared to the in-flux structure of many other spots heading into spring camp, with Johnson and Etienne sitting at the top as equal contributors.
Johnson will likely earn the nod as a starter in most contests, given his physical rushing style and propensity to break long rushes. Meanwhile, Etienne will come close to matching Johnson’s carry share to bring elite-level elusiveness and power.
Thanks to the year-long contributions from those young pieces a year ago, Florida has the luxury of a talented and experienced attack at arguably the most important position in an offense that predicates its ability to function properly on the ground game.
That will allow UF to deploy a high dosage of play-action to open up the field for incoming starting quarterback Graham Mertz.
Just below the duo is Tulane transfer Cameron Carroll. He’ll serve as a change of pace back in the offense, providing the Gators relief at points throughout the year. His role won’t be voluminous to overtake the spots of arguably the best running back tandem in the SEC, if not the country, but it’ll feature decent touches to throw a different look at defenses.
He arguably presents the best value as a pass catcher out of the backfield from the bunch, although the offense rarely looks to RBs for production in the passing game.
If Napier’s time at UL is any indication, Carroll is slated to operate in a role similar to Emani Bailey in 2021, where he received just over 24% of the total carry share between the three major backs.
At Florida, that number will likely hover closer to the 20% mark on the year as a whole, with his role depending on the weekly matchup.
Rounding at the room is true freshman Treyaun Webb, a high-upside pickup from the prep ranks with a game-ready frame and five years of experience serving at the varsity level at Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville, Fla.
He’ll likely serve sparingly in his first year as he’s groomed under Juluke, but he possesses the talent to perform in short-yardage situations for Florida as a bigger, bruising-style rusher.
That’s a journey UF can take given the talent rests in front of him on the depth chart.
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