Florida coaching staff praises New York Jets fifth round pick La'Mical Perine
Following his selection by the New York Jets in the NFL Draft, social media was buzzing about La’Michal Perine. Perhaps most exciting for the Jets, the praise was coming from Perine’s former coaches at Florida, a testament to the running back’s work ethic and ability on the field.
At Florida, Perine put up some pretty solid numbers over his four years at Gainesville. He is a strongly built running back who isn’t afraid to run between the tackles but has the ability to bounce outside and find space. He also is a good receiving threat and a decent blocker in passing situations.
Praise came in from his head coach Dan Mullen on Twitter and it points towards leadership and work ethic:
"Congrats @LP_deucedeuce. The @jets are getting a leader on and off the field. Versatile playmaker built for todays NFL. Always pushing to get better and improve. Proud of you."
The Orange Bowl MVP had 138 rushing yards on 13 carries and two rushing touchdowns in the season-ending bowl game win Viriginia. He also had five catches for 43 yards and a receiving touchdown.
All told, Perine had 676 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns last year, also adding 262 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns.
Perine steps into a situation with the Jets where he will be a part of the backfield rotation behind Le’Veon Bell and alongside Josh Adams. Running back wasn’t a priority for the Jets coming into the draft like left tackle or wide receiver was, but they needed to address the backfield with some depth behind Bell.
As a physical runner, Perine would be a good foil to Bell and also adds some wrinkles in terms of his ability to catch the ball.
In addition to Mullen’s tweet, running backs coach Greg Knox (also the Florida special teams coordinator), added praise on the Jets selection:
