Slot receiver spot is going to have a lot of looks for 2021 Gators
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The slot receiver position for the Florida Gators was manned by a first-round draft pick in 2020 with Kadarius Toney having a career year in a very pass-happy offense. In 2021, the slot receiver position looks to be really different and there is almost no limit to the number of different skill players that Florida could line up there this year.
We all know the Florida offense is going to look a lot different than last season when Kyle Trask was throwing the ball all over the place to the likes of Toney, fellow first rounder and tight end Kyle Pitts and veteran dependable receiver Trevon Grimes who all are no longer with the squad.
Emory Jones is the quarterback now and that means the running game will get a boost with him and what most consider a talented running back room carrying the ball. That’s a big change from an offense that hardly relied on the run at all a year ago.
But the Gators will throw the ball. And a Dan Mullen led offense is going to try and utilize the whole field and different personnel pieces to create mismatches for the defenses his team faces.
One spot you can be assured will be used to challenge defenses is the slot where Mullen is planning on using a variety of players to not only get some athletic ability at that spot in the offensive formations, but also have the defenses guessing.
Up first is the receiver we expected to step into that role and that is Jacob Copeland who moves from outside to the slot as the only returning starting receiver. Copeland finished with 23 receptions for 435 yards and three touchdowns last year. His 18.91 yards per catch was more than any other player on the team with more than one reception on the season.
Sixth year receiver Rick Wells looks to move into a two-deep role this year after being consistent when given his few chances a year ago and then Trent Whittemore is the other receiver that you wouldn’t think fits the bill of a slot guy because of his size (6-4, 211) but he proved he could make some tough catches from the slot a year ago.
But Mullen isn’t going to just utilize receivers in the slot position.
“Well, you’ve got all kinds of different people,” he said Monday, just a day after the team’s first scrimmage of the fall. “We’re going to move some tight ends, will do some more slot stuff, more than last year when we kind of played them more on the outside singled up. You have Jacob Copeland in the slot, Rick Wells in the slot, running backs can go into the slot. Trent Whittemore goes into the slot.”
The running back position has at least a couple of players that could slide into the slot position a good deal of the time this year. With five players ready to see time on the field we should look to see two on the field a lot. With that in mind we saw Malik Davis (31 receptions, 377 yards in 2020) and Nay'Quan Wright (19 receptions for 219 yards) do a nice job in the passing game and show they could slide out to the slot position on any given play.
“You know, (we have) a lot of different type of deals creating the matchups where last year, you had some guys on the outside you’re creating 1-on-1s for if they wanted to leave them 1-on-1, or if they wanted to roll that, your slot was Kadarius Toney to create some mismatches that way. We’re kind of moving a lot more different pieces around.”
We also know that the tight end position can play from the slot position and we could see a couple of tight ends on the field and flexed out from the line of scrimmage with veterans Kemore Gamble and Keon Zipperer both showing they can be reliable receivers.
All of this makes for more options for Mullen and the offensive staff to try and keep the defense guessing.
