When Billy Napier arrived in Gainesville, he made his plans for Florida football clear: Tear everything down and rebuild the Gators from scratch.
If Napier’s transparency throughout his first offseason in charge wasn’t enough to convince UF fans of that reality, his last two months as the program’s head coach certainly should.
Since the second half of November 2022, Florida completed its first repeat losing season in the SEC since the 1950s, saw 22 scholarship players enter the transfer portal, welcomed ten FBS transfers into the university after acquiring six last offseason and signed Napier’s first complete high school recruiting class, a haul including two or more signees at six different positions.
Florida football is going to look different in Napier’s second year at the helm, undoubtedly. Whether it will be improved or not remains to be seen, but the incoming transfers — the majority of them, at least — will be expected to push the Gators in the right direction sooner rather than later.
All Gators is projecting roles for every Florida transfer acquisition ahead of the 2023 season. While his addition may not have produced a number of headlines similar to quarterback Graham Mertz, whose fit we covered here, next we’ll break down the transfer of former Tulane running back Cameron Carroll.
Carroll is one of two scholarship running backs joining the Gators roster this offseason, following class of 2023 signee Treyaun Webb, filling out the position behind a tandem of bell cows in rising junior Montrell Johnson Jr. and rising sophomore Trevor Etienne.
After combining for 1,560 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2022 and finishing as two of the SEC’s top 13 backs in yards per carry, Johnson and Etienne will carry the majority of the load once again in 2023. However, there will be room for Carroll, and perhaps Webb, to contribute throughout the campaign as well.
Remember, before the duo’s breakout, Johnson and Etienne rotated snaps thoroughly with Nay’Quan Wright. He started the first four games of the season and earned nearly eight carries per game through Week 5 before adjustments were made to run the Gators’ offense through its more productive backs.
This is a historical trend for Napier. Three different running backs tallied 100+ rushing attempts in two of his four seasons as Louisiana’s head coach.
Florida met that mark in 2022, sort of, with quarterback Anthony Richardson joining Johnson and Etienne in the triple-digit rush club.
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This isn’t to project that Carroll, or Webb, will be that heavily involved in Florida’s game plan in 2023. The logical expectation is that Napier will ride with the hot hands as Johnson and Etienne were two of the nation’s most efficient running backs a season ago.
However, there will be opportunities for both of the newcomers to contribute in some capacity. This will especially be true for Carroll, given his experience and production.
In five seasons with Tulane, the 6-foot, 225-pound Carroll compiled 1,638 yards and 19 touchdowns across 312 carries in a rotation with now-NFL Draft prospect Tyjae Spears, adding 23 receptions for 247 yards and five passing scores.
Carroll redshirted his freshman year and missed all but one game in 2022 due to a season-ending leg injury, finishing his Green Wave career with 40 appearances.
The best game of Carroll’s career came in 2020 against Southern Miss, when he took over for Spears after the starter went down with an injury early in the second quarter. Carroll’s first score was through the air, hauling in a 32-yard reception on a wheel route up the seam and through traffic. He went on to produce explosive rushing touchdowns from 52, 30 and 19 yards out in Tulane’s 66-24 win.
While he didn’t mass produce as a receiver in his role, he is now easily the most proven pass-catching back on Florida’s roster and could carve out a role on late downs should Napier expand the position’s usage in the passing game.
And, with Napier’s history of utilizing three running backs, it would be surprising if Carroll didn’t receive a routine percentage of Florida’s carries. A bigger back like the 5-foot-11, 218-pound Johnson, Carroll will be a candidate to receive short conversion and goal-line carries.
From a roster-building perspective, Carroll’s addition as a sixth-year senior is also wise. It preserves an opening for Florida to sign a running back in the class of 2024, a pot already filled via the commitment of North Palm Beach (Fla.) The Benjamin School’s Chauncey Bowens. A younger transfer or late high school signing would diminish that flexibility unless UF were to overstock the position on scholarship players.
Carroll may not make as much of an impact as Mertz or some of Florida’s other transfers, but his insertion in Florida’s running back room addresses a need for depth and gives the Gators another viable option within their dynamic backfield.
Stay tuned to All Gators for continuous coverage of Florida Gators football, basketball and recruiting. Follow along on social media at @AllGatorsOnFN on Twitter and All Gators on FanNation-Sports Illustrated on Facebook.
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