Backfield for Florida Football will be tested after Montrell Johnson's injury

Over the weekend, news broke that Florida Football running back Montrell Johnson would miss some time due to knee surgery. The injury is not considered severe, but there is no guarantee he will be back in time for the season opener against Miami on August 31.

Throughout the offseason, we have said that even with Trevor Etienne transferring to Georgia, Florida's backfield was still in decent shape heading into the 2024 campaign. With Johnson out, that theory is about to be tested.

Florida Football: Run The Damn Ball!

The presumed heir to the RB2 throne this season is Treyaun Webb. The sophomore from Jacksonville saw a handful of carries in 2023, including 14 carries against McNeese State for 74 yards.

Webb was considered a fringe four-star running back coming out of high school based on the 247 Composite, with On3 grading him as a mid-tier three-star.

So, racking up yards against McNeese State and being in line to be RB2 is one thing. Whether he is ready to step up and be an RB1 remains to be seen.

In theory, Billy Napier is going to rotate running backs against Miami, and it wouldn't be shocking to see him employ a three-back system similar to what he did during his first season with Johnson, Etienne, and Nay'Quan Wright. Under this theory, we would expect to see true freshman KD Daniels and Jadan Baugh receive some carries here if Johnson is out.

Daniels stormed up the recruiting rankings during his senior season of high school and felt like a steal for the Gators in their class of 2024. When we originally profiled Daniels before he was even a commit with the Gators we said:

"His biggest attribute is his vision. Even with 11 defenders in the box and chaos all around, Daniels is able to follow his blockers and stay patient long enough for holes to open up. He’s hard to bring down in the sense that he simply goes where opposing linebackers are not.

In a lot of his clips from his junior season, he runs for 60+ yards and wouldn’t have been tackled even if it was flag football.

The one critique is that when he is going parallel to the line of scrimmage waiting for a hole to open, he tends to round his cut upfield vs plant and go. This does get him upfield just a tick slower than what will be needed in the SEC.

But if his 4.5 speed is legit, that can easily be fixed and Daniels is the type of player that would fit in well in Napier’s zone running scheme."

Baugh joined Florida's 2024 class late but made quite a name for himself at the spring game.

Most offseason previews for Florida from the outside have focused in on Baugh rather than Daniels as a potential breakout star who could even unseat Webb by the time the season is over.

When we originally previewed Baugh before he became a Gator, we said:

"At his best, Baugh is a master at getting out of tight spaces and is a nightmare for opposing defenses to bring down. He’s not a QB that runs in a power set compared to Kahnen Daniels; more so, he’s a player that Coumbia High moves all around the field to find creative ways to get him the ball and let him do his thing.

Not much changed during Baugh's senior season with Columbia.

Being recruited as a running back, Baugh is listed at 6'1" and 215 pounds. He is not a burner, with a 100-meter dash time of 11.35 seconds, but no one could catch him during the 2023 season.

Whether he ran up the gut or bounced to the outside, on film Baugh rarely had to use his power to shed tackles because he was elusive enough that opposing defenders never touched him."

The Gators have three other running backs listed on their roster. Ja'Kobi Jackson is a JUCO transfer originally from Pensacola. He was with the Gators last season but made no appearances. There have been some rumblings from camp that Jackson could sneak onto the field if he continues progressing.

Cam Carroll transferred from Tulane and had a great spring game in 2023. However, he missed all of the 2023 season due to a knee injury, and based on reports, it does not appear that he will be ready to start the season.

Anthony Rubio is the final running back on Florida's roster. He is a walk-on from St. Thomas Aquinas and the son of Senator Marco Rubio. He did not make any appearances during the 2023 season, though he did get five carries for 31 yards during the spring game this year.

The final verdict for the running back room is that, on paper, they have an ocean of RB2s without a defined RB1 if Johnson is out. We would expect Webb, Baugh, and Daniels to split carries until a hot hand is established if Johnson cannot go against Miami.