Florida Gators RB Montrell Johnson Jr. back for one more year

I think he gets to 1000 yards this year. He's a complete back. Can see him in 3rd to 4th rd. Can catch, block and hold on to the ball.
I think a freshman could end up as 2nd team, I like both of them

 

He won't get close to 1000 yards unless the O-line improves substantially. He's good, no doubt, but you gotta have those Beef People doing their jobs to make it happen.

 

We're not done in the portal yet. We might get that handled. We already have enough for a decent rotation...

Time will tell.

Go Gators

 

It seemed like he didn't have that breakaway pop out the backfield last year as compared to the year before. Hoping some of it was an O-line issue however no excuses this year for MJ.

Super excited to see MJ/Webb/Carroll in the backfield this year. With some help from their friends on the O-line all three backs are capable of having quality seasons.

 

25 more yards a game last year he makes it

 

I understand the sentiment in your post. The 2023 Gator O-line was a rebuild with a lot of first and second year players. The 2024 season will bring vastly improve Gator O-line because: The current O-linemen have another season (AKA Experience) under their belts, another year of strength and conditioning, and another year of coaching.

This should bode well for the Gator Offense because there will be more holes for the Gator running backs to hit and to get more yards beyond the LOS (5 or more yard per rush). It will also bode well for Mertz, because he will have more time to set up, and to check down on the receivers (more of a vertical passing game, more passes completed, and more yards and TD's per completion.

 

The Gator offensive line in 2023 had a very experienced center in Eguakan starting, who is going to the NFL, the rated offensive lineman in the portal last year in Mazzccua, a junior with 2 years experience at Baylor, Richie Leonard, who had 2 years of significant playing time prior to 2023, Austin Barber, a RS sophomore who played a lot in 2022 and Dameon George, the Alabama transfer, who was terrible. Jake Slaughter played a lot at C and he was OK, but not great, then Kamryn Waites played a lot late and he wasn't very good either. Our 3 best linemen from 2023 are gone, Eguakan to the NFL, Mazzccua and Leonard transferred out. My opinion is the the O-line will not be much better than 2024, if at all. We didn't recruit from high school or the portal any big time o-linemen and I just don;t see the back-ups from 2023, plus guys like George and Waites improving to the point of being able to stand up against SEC defensive lines. I would love to be wrong - I just don't think it's going to happen.

 

Slaughter graded out much better at center and Leonard was our sixth best. We didn’t lose much.

 

FSU wanted Leonard, Nebraska wanted Mazzccua, Kentucky wanted Jalen Farmer and the NFL will take Kingsley. And we don't have much coming back, quality-wise. Barber is probably the best when healthy. We were one of the worst offensive lines in the SEC. We lose our 3 most experienced starters and didn't bring in elite players to take their place. And the guys who backed them up and are coming back can't be better or they would have played this year. So keep living in fantasy land and I'll keep posting reality.

 

Watch, you’ll be wrong.

 

I would love to be wrong. And I will be watching.

 

The bar is really low. The guys we lost were the weak links of a terrible line. We will easily be better.

 

The Gators did pick up an Offensive Tackle in the Portal. His name is Devon Manuel a 3 star from Arkansas. He is not listed on the current roster, but his Portal Data show that he Committed to UF on Jan. 5 and is now enrolled at UF and

You need to check the current 2024 Gator Football Roster.

• Currently the roster has 19 offensive line men.
• Out of those 19, there are just 6 Freshmen.
• 13 of those players will be have at least one season of college football.
• The remaining 6 players will have two to three years of college football.
• A good portion of these 13 will be entering their second or third season of being a Gator.

I know that all of 19 are going to the NFL, nor are all going to start or even play a single down this season. However, improvement with the 13 non Freshmen players should be EXPECTED and not wished for.

What we should see in these 19 offensive linemen is:

• Improvement in strength and conditioning.
• Increase of knowledge of the plays and situations.
• Improvement in techniques (Blocking Skills).
• Improvements in execution (fewer false starts and holds).

This past season, we saw the Gators Offense getting competitive. Especially late in the season. If the Gator O-line this past season had made more effective blocks and fewer penalties, then they would of gone to a bowl game. Improvement in 2024 is to be expected. I just do not see a regression or a stagnation with these guys.

 

Leonard was decent but undersized, Mazzccua was a locker room cancer and Kingsley was hurt most of the season. Waites was injured most of the season as well. Slaughter did an admirable job filling in and got better as the season went on. Harris is a lot further along than most thought he would be. He was pretty impressive for a true Freshman. And I don’t get the comment about no elite guys coming? I don’t know if Manuel & Crenshaw-Dickson are “elite” but they must be pretty damn good because everybody else wanted them. At a minimum we at least have depth at OT now, that can play, which we haven’t had the past few seasons.

I don’t think they’ll be world beaters by any stretch, but there are better and more pieces to work with than what we had last year. If we can manage to stay healthy I don’t see how we don’t improve.

 

Leonard was basically a 3-year starter. I know he wasn't great, but he was better than the guys on the bench, right? We have lost 3 guys to D1 programs and Nebraska has already said Mazzccua became the best offensive lineman on their team the day he signed with them. As for the new transfers, they weren't very high in the portal rankings and our returning guys can't be very good or they would have beaten out our starters from last year's awful line. You can throw hopeful speculation out there all day l;ong and ultimately the results on the field will tell the truth. The result from 2022 and 2023 weren't not good and I don;t see any FACTS to show a reasonable expectation for 2024 to be any better.

As an aside, we are currently ranked #39 in the transfer portal rankings. That's 15th in the SEC, plus well behind FSU & Miami. The 2 offensive linemen we got so far have a .8800 and .8700 rating. Our best portal guys are the 2 defensive players from South Carolina and Yale. Our recruiting and portal classes for the last 3 years have been average at best. Our competition is improving their rosters in a better way than we are. It proved itself on the field the last 2 years and there's no reason to think otherwise for 2024. We have inferior players than most of the teams on our schedule. We can wish otherwise and think otherwise, but the facts don't back that up. And until and unless we win more games than we lose, I will continue to be pessimistic. Hopeful, always, but realistic for sure.