Florida Gators: Fans should not stress about the offense

Mock draft season is here, and just like every football fan, I am reading into every mock draft I can find. Upon looking at these mock drafts, it is evident that the Florida Gators lost key offensive weapons from a year ago as you see former Gators throughout them.

Former quarterback and 2020 Heisman Finalist Kyle Trask is projected as high as the end of the first round. Speedster wide receiver Kadarius Toney is skyrocketing up draft boards, too, projected to go as high as the middle of the first round in many mock drafts. Then, of course, you have the 2020 John Mackey Award winner and potential top 5 pick Kyle Pitts, who some believe is the best tight end prospect ever to come out of college.

Despite the loss of Florida’s best players from last season, Florida fans should be even more excited for the Gator offense in 2021.The biggest reason Gators fans should be excited about the 2021 season is real simple, and it starts with redshirt junior quarterback Emory Jones.

Although Florida had the number one passing offense last season, their rushing attack ranked 96th. With Jones taking the snaps in the backfield now, Head Coach Dan Mullen can use Jones’ strength as a dual-threat to open up the playbook, use more designed quarterback runs and zone reads to confuse the defense.

This is something Coach Mullen specializes in as he has coached dual-threat quarterbacks such as Alex Smith, Tim Tebow, and Dak Prescott. I believe a full offseason of Jones and Coach Mullen working together will reap benefits for the Florida offense in the upcoming season.

As for the skill positions for Florida’s offense, though you cannot replace a player like Pitts, there is still optimism for the players surrounding Jones.

One weapon I am looking at for a breakout season is former 5-star recruit Justin Shorter. Shorter appeared in all ten regular-season games last year and now finally should get his time to shine as a WR1. I fully expect Shorter to display why he was such a highly coveted recruit coming out of high school. Along with Shorter, redshirt junior Jacob Copeland should have a significant role too. Copeland averaged 18.9 yards per reception last season and will have more opportunities to make plays in 2021.

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Florida’s tight end room is looking for breakout seasons as well. Although former LSU tight end Arik Gilbert transferred in then back out, Florida is still solid at the tight end position. Keon Zipperer showed some flashes that he could be productive in Florida’s offense last year, having three receptions for 47 yards and two touchdowns against Arkansas last year.

As for who will be lining up in the backfield with Jones, well, that is still up in the air. I foresee a great running back competition going through spring practice and all through camp in the summer.

I would like to see Clemson transfer and former 5-star recruit Demarkcus Bowman win the starting job for the upcoming season. Another name to keep an eye on is Redshirt Senior Malik Davis. Davis has had his fair share of bad luck and injuries throughout his career at Florida but had a great freshman year earning SEC Freshman of the Week honors against Vanderbilt as a workhorse back. Look for these two backs to shoulder most of the carries for the Gators.

The 2020 Florida Gators offense was one of the top offenses in the nation, 13th to be exact. They did lose most of their firepower with names like Trask, Pitts, and Toney.

However, Jones gives the Florida offense a different dimension with his feet. With a lot of big-name transfers and recruits around him finally getting their time in the spotlight, I expect Florida’s offense to look very different next year. It is different in the sense of scheming and play-calling but not different in terms of points on the scoreboard.

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