UF opponents should prepare to be hit with a steady dose of lightning and more lightning this season, as sophomore speedsters Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey are expected to take the bulk of the carries out of the backfield.
Though neither are prototypical between-the-tackles runners, running backs coach Kenny Carter has set lofty goals for his unit, but not necessarily any one player.
"We're concerned about what we do as a unit, not what we do as individuals because it doesn't matter," he said. "If we're productive as a unit, that's the deal. It was the second-most productive unit in the history of Florida football last season, and we intend to do better than that."
Demps has garnered praise from the coaching staff for his ability to do everything out of the backfield. He has shown a good understanding of the offense, has the ability to pick up blitzes and has become a viable receiving option out of the backfield, something that has him in contention to see a significant amount of time in the hybrid position that Percy Harvin made so deadly in his time as a Gator.
Coach Urban Meyer said Rainey has shown vast improvement in contributing to all areas of the game, pointing out that the running back has become more "intelligent" and "mature," two words he joked he never thought he would use to describe him.
The other back who saw a significant amount of playing time last season is junior Emmanuel Moody, who spent the first two days of practice on a stationary bike while battling an ankle injury.
Moody, who is listed at 210 pounds, outweighs Demps and Rainey by about 30 pounds and is considered a better option in a more pro-style system that requires pounding the ball up the middle.
With talk of an under-center package being put into the offense, it seemed Moody would finally have a chance to cement a role on in the backfield.
However, there was not a single snap taken from under center by anyone other than punter Chas Henry in the first two open practices, and Carter dispelled notions that Moody is the only UF runner physical enough to be effective in that scenario.
"If you're a running back at Florida and you're productive, you're going to get the ball," Carter said. "One person specifically, we're not going to say, 'OK, because we're under center, we're going to do this, we're going to do that.' The whole thing is when Emmanuel is healthy and ready to play, then he'll play. When Chris and Jeff are ready to play, then they'll play. One specific person because of whether we're under center or not doesn't matter. It doesn't matter."
Senior Brandon James and freshman Mike Gillislee will provide insurance in the event injuries force the coaching staff to reach deeper into the depth chart.
With so much emphasis on the success of the unit as a whole and not any one player, Carter isn't concerned with the prospect of losing Moody, or any other back, to injury.
"One of my coaches that I coached for a long time ago told me, 'You play with who you have,'" Carter said. "That's why you recruit, so I never get nervous about that. If you're nervous, then that means you don't have good enough players on your roster, so at Florida you're not going to be nervous."
