To say 2011 was a disappointment for Quinton Dunbar would be an understatement.
After appearing in just two games as a true freshman in 2010, the 6-foot-1, 183-pound receiver drew praise from coaches and teammates alike last spring and into fall camp. It seemed he was poised for a breakout year — one the Gators needed from a receiver.
However, all that buildup never translated to games, as Dunbar caught just 14 passes for 216 yards and a pair of scores in 12 games. His first touchdown didn’t come until the second-to-last game of the season against Furman on Nov. 19.
“I mean, I can’t even answer that,” Dunbar said last week when asked why the preseason hype didn’t amount to on-field production. “I don’t know what happened.”
But with one week of spring practice done, new offensive coordinator Brent Pease said he has been particularly impressed with Dunbar, more so than any other receiver.
While Andre Debose led the team last season in receiving touchdowns (four), receiving yards (432) and yards per catch (27), Pease said he hasn’t seen the redshirt junior emerge just yet as the playmaker Florida’s offense needs.
Instead, Pease praised Dunbar’s play early this spring.
“Quinton’s really done it well in four days — really done well,” Pease said Wednesday. “(He has made) drastic improvements every day.”
Most notably, Pease complimented improvements in Dunbar’s catching ability — high praise considering Pease said the receiving corps as a whole needs more work on fundamentals such as stance, catching, blocking and releasing on routes. Dunbar said he is focusing on all of those things this offseason in order to try to take his game to the next level.
So far, it seems to be paying off, as Pease has seen Dunbar make several big plays early in practice and flash the potential to be a downfield threat come fall.
“Practice is built to go fast and be challenging so that games are easier,” Pease said. “He’s starting to play the game faster. He’s not thinking so much. When kids are thinking, they play slow, because they don’t know everything, they don’t trust and they have no confidence.
“Obviously we’re working through that, but I’ve seen the pace of how he plays the game every day get faster and faster and faster.”
Pease working more with receivers: Given his recent background as a wide receivers coach, Pease said he tends to be pickier when it comes to coaching receivers, and has been hands on with the Gators’ group of pass-catchers this spring.
The biggest thing Pease likes to focus on with receivers is timing and rhythm in order to make the quarterback’s life easier.
“You can become robots at that position, and you don’t want robots,” Pease said. “You want guys that handle things, can be able to beat coverages, little adjustments, because you’re not always running routes, you’re beating coverages.”
Party-platter offense: Pease said the Gators will install some Wildcat offense this season. While he said Trey Burton is an option in that package, the first-year coordinator would like to “develop somebody else with it,” too.
Pease said people can expect to see Florida run a little bit of everything on offense, just not too many gimmicks.
“That’s what we’ve done in the past,” Pease said. “We’re good thieves of good plays.”
Contact Tom Green at tgreen@alligator.org.
