Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The first look at Mark Thompson likely will engender a similar reaction to the one Jordan Scarlett had when the Florida running back got an initial glance at his newest competition. 

"I was like, this is a big dude," Scarlett said. 

Thompson goes 6-foot-2 and 242 pounds. He also comes by way of Dodge City (Kan.) Community College, which makes him — despite his impressive physique — a Southeastern Conference neophyte among the quartet of horses in the backfield mix for the Florida Gators during spring workouts.

Make no mistake, Thompson is the biggest of the bunch, but he's yet to take a handoff or catch a swing pass in major college football. That's not the case for Scarlett, the sophomore from Fort Lauderdale who averaged more than five yards per carry in limited action last season, or his backfield brother of the same name, Jordan Cronkrite of Miami, who was the second-most productive tailback on the team as a freshman. And then there's Mark Herndon, the fifth-year senior and former walk-on who is a favorite among the UF coaches despite his anti-Thompson build (just 5-9, 203). 

Lots of shapes, lots of sizes, lots of options. 

"The more the better. If you're able to play, we're going to give you a chance to get out there," said UF running backs coach Tim Skipper, who came with Coach Jim McElwain from Colorado State and thus has the blueprint down for how backs fit into the system. "Coach Mac does a good job of using backs. In the previous places they've been, they've used a lot of backs, so we're going to stay on that model. Whoever can play is definitely going to get out there and play." 

Whether that will be one featured guy or a running back-by-committee approach is something that will be determined down the line. One thing's for certain, though, and that is the Gators need more out of their ground game than they got during the 2015 season — the same can be said for the entire offense, by the way — and that's no slam at Kelvin Taylor, who left following his junior season to enter the NFL draft. 

In rushing for 1,035 yards and 13 touchdowns last fall, Taylor became just the ninth UF runner to eclipse the 1,000-yard threshold and just the second in the previous 11 seasons. Taylor's early exit left a considerable vacuum in the backfield, given he accounted for 58 percent of the Florida ground game and 68 percent of its rushing TDs. 

But even with Taylor, the Gators averaged just 126.9 yards rushing as a team, which ranked next-to-last in the Southeastern Conference. Only Missouri, which went 1-7 in league play, was worse. In fact, no team among the top half rushing offenses in the SEC was below 183 yards per game, so the Gators have some work to do to become an elite ground attack. 

The push to be Taylor's heir figures to be ferocious. 

"The competition at running back has really helped because those guys are busting their tails now," McElwain said. "That's good to see." 
 
For now, the leader in the clubhouse is Cronkrite, the 5-11, 204-pounder who rushed 44 times for 157 yards and three touchdowns as a rookie. He only averaged 3.6 yards per carry, but he also flashed some as a receiver, with six catches for 89 yards, including a terrific 42-yard touchdown catch in the win at South Carolina. 

Cronkrite is getting the bulk of the reps with the first offense. 

"I just listen, listen to coaching every day," he said. "Starts with the film and applying that to the field. I just take all the coaching and apply it to the field every day."

Scarlett averaged 5.3 yards per carry, but ended the season suspended for the bowl game for violation of team rules. 

He started the spring with a clean slate and some lessons learned. 

"It was a humbling experience," Scarlett said. "I made a bad decision and Coach Mac always says you have freedom of choice, not freedom of consequence.

"I had to deal with the consequences. I'm a man. I owned up to it and I'm just looking forward to doing good things this year and putting that behind me."

Herndon is the smallest of the group at 5-9, 203, but the coaches love his work ethic in coming back from a season-ending knee injury in 2014 and believe there could be a place for the Ocala product beyond just being the elder statesman in the running back room. 

Not that there isn't significant value in the latter, given the lack of experience among the group. 

"The first thing you want to teach them is that it's not all about running the ball. It's about pass blocking, how you catch it out of the backfield, so that's the biggest thing, that's the first thing," Herndon said when asked about his words of running back wisdom. "And then just being smart on the field. There's a lot more to it than just running the ball. In high school, you just come in, run the ball, make plays. But in college there's way more to it. You've got to know schemes, fronts, blitzes, stuff like that."

Same applies coming from junior college. That's what Thompson is learning on the fly after rushing 268 times for 1,298 yards and 18 touchdowns on his way to JuCo All-America status in 2015.

At 240-plus, Thompson is heavier than even Matt Jones (6-2, 236), a third-round NFL Draft pick by Washington last season, when he was carrying the ball for the Gators. The early returns say Thompson has speed and agility that belie his bulk, plus a track record for catching the ball that dates to his days as a slot back receiver playing high school football in LaMott, Pa. He was a hot prep prospect, but didn't qualify academically and went the JuCo route. 

Now he's on the catch-up route, which includes an indoctrination period, of course. His teammates love to tease Thompson about his size — "Hey man, aren't you a linebacker?" — but eventually the Jarrad Davises and Daniel McMillians that are razzing him have to square up and tackle him, also. 

"I've had some 'Welcome to the SEC' moments, but I've also had some 'I'm here in the SEC' moments," Thompson said with a grin. "It's the best of both worlds."

Yes, it's only the spring, but given the dearth and potential at the position, the UF coaches are inclined to agree with regard to the choices in the Florida backfield.

Skipper, for one. "I think we're going to give some defenses fits."