Florida Gators RBs Pushing to Improve in Pass Game, Protection
A year after owning the No. 16 passing offense in the nation, the Florida Gators are looking for some more run-game balance but are certainly want to pick up where they left off attacking defenses through the air this season.
While it isn't thought of as a primary position in the passing game, the role of the running back is crucial to finding success passing the ball, especially seen last year in UF's offense. Starter Lamical Perine, who emerged as a three-down workhorse a year after splitting carries about evenly with Jordan Scarlett in 2018, caught 40 passes on the year and graded out well as a pass-protecting back, allowing just two quarterback pressures on 65 pass-blocking snaps per Pro Football Focus.
Perine is now out of the picture, off to the NFL with the New York Jets, leaving the running back room in the hands of junior Dameon Pierce, redshirt junior Malik Davis, and redshirt sophomore Lorenzo Lingard, a recent transfer from Miami. Iverson Clement and Nay'Quan Wright offer depth, while those three headline the position and project to work within a committee this year.
"Perine obviously left a huge void for us to fill there, but we keep working every day to fill that void to live up to expectations,” Pierce said of the receiving game, speaking with the media on Tuesday.
The good news: Pierce, who offers recent production (305 rushing yards, four touchdowns in 2019) allowed zero pressures in 2019.
The issue: He was in pass protection on only 13 pass-blocking snaps - not much of a sample size. And on 16 pass-protection snaps as a freshman in 2018, Pierce did give up two pressures. Davis, meanwhile, allowed two pressures on 14 pass-blocking snaps last year, and five on 55 career snaps in protection. Lingard has only two pass-blocking snaps to his name in his career, giving up pressure on neither but obviously needing more work there to tell the full story.
The entire running back unit is prioritizing improvement in that department this offseason in order to fully replace Perine.
“In terms of pass protection, we all have been pushing each other to get better in that part of our game," said Pierce. "As well as, coach Knox puts great emphasis on ball security and pass protection this year more this year than any."
Pierce returned home to Bainbridge, Ga. this offseason, where he trained in his backyard and local fields with his brothers, who play high school ball. There, Pierce says, he focused on developing as a route-runner and catching passes out of the backfield.
Davis flashed as a receiver earlier in his career, hauling in 10 receptions for 91 yards in 10 games through his freshman and sophomore seasons - which were both halted due to season-ending lower-body injuries. Davis was a non-factor in the run game last year, healthy all season for the first time in his career, but added another six catches for 41 yards.
Multiple Gators players and coaches have claimed that Davis appears back to full strength, making plays 2020 fall camp as he did as a healthy freshman. If that holds true, paired with the strides he's made within his game via training, Davis could re-emerge as a change-of-pace back this year.
"This offseason and even last season, I always made sure I got extra work in just working on your hands because the game is evolving," Davis told the media last Wednesday. "If you want to be a player that's on the field a lot, you need to know how to catch and pass pro. They know I can run the ball, so you gotta be able to seperate yourself. So that's where the catching and being able to run routes comes in at."
