The Florida Gators found themselves in a bit of a quandary when the early signing period passed and they only had one running back in their recruiting class. With just two backs returning from last season, three just wasn’t going to be enough. They needed to make an unexpected move in the transfer portal.
Florida lost two transfers following the season when seniors Nay’Quan Wright and Lorenzo Lingard decided to take their talents elsewhere. They added one player out of high school in four-star Jacksonville Trinity Christian’s Treyaun Webb. The Gator also returned the top two backs from the 2022 squad, junior Montrell Johnson and sophomore Trevor Etienne.
The Southeastern Conference football schedule is a rugged one. Throw in a road game at Utah and a home tilt versus rival Florida State and it’s easy to see that having three scholarship running backs on the roster isn’t conducive to success. Injuries happen and with the Gators’ propensity to lean on the running game, it will be hard to keep them all healthy during the season.
Because this is Florida and the Gators will run the ball a lot, it is an attractive draw to come to Florida for highly rated backs. One issue with this is the return of Johnson and Etienne. The duo may be the best one-two punch in the SEC or the county for that matter. Johnson ran for 841 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2022. Etienne ran for 719 yards and six touchdowns last season.
It was going to take someone that understands the battle at the position and someone with confidence in their own game to transfer in. Also getting a one-year player would be the most opportune so that Florida could recruit two backs for the next recruiting cycle. The Gators seemed to get the best-case scenario when landing Cameron Carroll out of Tulane.
Carroll had just three carries in 2022 in Tulane’s opener before sustaining an injury that would sideline him for the rest of the year. In 2021 Carroll rushed for 516 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 741 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2020.
He’s been a productive back, has tremendous size at 230 pounds, and he has that one season left, a bonus given what the staff wants to do.
“I think it was a perfect piece of the puzzle big picture-wise,” Florida head coach Billy Napier said Wednesday when asked about landing Carroll. “Obviously, with Montrell, Trevor, and Treyaun being here early, that’s three scholarship running backs and we like to live in that five range there as well.”
As productive as he was at Tulane, Napier believes that Carroll has more in him.
“You get a player who has one year of eligibility, potentially two, really his role was limited at Tulane due to the turf toe and the guy’s rushed for over 1,000 yards for his career,” Napier said. “He’s 6-foot and 230 pounds and a very productive player if you go back and evaluate the tape. A guy that brings some special teams value as well and a player that we were familiar with. Good fit.”
The Gators answered a tough call with a quality player in finding Carroll and convincing him to play in the SEC in 2023.