Florida football: Lorenzo Lingard should be Gators’ third running back

Football is a zero-sum game. For one team to win, it means the other team can not win. This applies to playing time as well and the running back room for Florida football is experiencing this firsthand. For Montrell Johnson, Trevor Etienne, and Nay’Quan Wright to play it means guys like Lorenzo Lingard do not get to play.

After Sunday’s game against Eastern Washington, it is clear though that Lingard needs to be playing more and needs to take the spot of one of the running backs that have been playing.

Florida football: This town isn’t big enough for the two of us

Say the words Dameon Pierce and Dan Mullen on Twitter (like we have on multiple occasions) and you will instantly get all the likes. Pierce was forced into a running back rotation despite clearly being the best running back Florida football had.

But there are reasons why coaches use running back rotations and even with rotations, there are only so many snaps to go around. Realistically there are only enough snaps to work three backs with any consistency.

So while we could make an argument that Billy Napier should stick to a two-back rotation with Montrell Johnson and Trevor Etienne, his insistence has been to also work in Nay’Quan Wright. It has been clear however that Wright has been the weak link of the three, amassing 153 yards off 39 carries for a meek 3.9 yards per carry. Johnson is averaging 7.4 yards per carry and Etienne is at 5.7.

Even against Eastern Washington, Wright had seven carries for only 27 yards. If Napier insists on using a third running back, it is time to ask why Lorenzo Lingard isn’t in line to take Wright’s carries.

Lingard was a five-star prospect that committed to Miami in 2018 and stayed in Coral Gables for two seasons before making the trek to Gainesville. After two years as a member of Florida football being stuck behind Pierce and Malik Davis, 2022 seemed like it was going to be Lingard’s year. Then Johnson and Etienne showed up and he was relegated to being fourth on the depth chart.

Lingard got into the game against Eastern Washington late into the third quarter and showed flashes of what made him an exciting prospect coming out of high school. Off just five carries, Lingard racked up 45 yards and one touchdown.

While he had holes to run through wide enough that you or I could probably find them, he looked noticeably quicker than Wright and showed more potential in his five carries than Wright has in any of his 39 this season.

This isn’t meant to denigrate Wright as he seems to handle himself well and gives effort on all his carries. But for Lingard to play, someone has to sit. Wright has had enough opportunity to secure his spot and he hasn’t done it at a high enough level to justify keeping Lingard on the sidelines for the Florida Gators.

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