When the Florida football team needed a spark in the run game last season, the ball went to Kelvin Taylor.
The Gators don’t have that luxury anymore.
With Taylor opting to leave for the NFL Draft after rushing for 1,035 yards and 13 touchdowns last season, UF coach Jim McElwain has to find out who his production in the backfield will come from.
And after the first week of practice, it looks like he has three candidates in sophomores Jordan Scarlett and Jordan Cronkrite as well as junior college transfer Mark Thompson.
Scarlett and Cronkrite combined for 338 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground while mostly being used to spell Taylor.
Thompson, a 6-foot-2 tailback and the No. 5 overall junior college prospect from the 2016 recruiting class, brings a unique combination of size and speed to Florida’s running back stable.
"Here’s the good thing: You see some guys competing every day now knowing that when I don’t just have my spot, if that makes sense," McElwain said. "I think the competition is something that is really good for every position."
Finding McGee’s replacement: While Florida’s offense was riddled with inconsistencies last year, tight end Jake McGee always brought a glimmer of hope.
The sixth-year senior hauled in 41 catches for 381 yards and four touchdowns last year.
In looking for McGee’s replacement, McElwain said the group of DeAndre Goolsby, C’yontai Lewis and Moral Stephens has shown improvements from a year ago.
And the tight ends are ready to make an impact.
"Jake taught us a lot," said Goolsby, who had 17 catches for 277 yards and a touchdown in 2015. "But it’s still just the offense. … As long as we’re out there on one page, I feel like we’ll be fine."
Offensive line growing: Twelve months ago, the Gators had just six scholarship offensive linemen in camp.
The starters received plenty of reps, but game-type scenarios were limited in order to avoid an onslaught of injury and fatigue.
But with more than a dozen healthy scholarship offensive linemen this time around — not including rising sophomore Martez Ivey, who is out for the Spring following postseason shoulder surgery — the linemen will get both experience and rest.
"It was tiring," junior offensive lineman David Sharpe said of Spring practice last season. "We had a high-tempo practice, drill to drill to drill."
Sharpe said Cam Dillard and Antonio Riles have stepped up from a leadership perspective and that he has seen growth from younger linemen such as sophomores Fred Johnson and Tyler Jordan in addition to redshirt freshman Brandon Sandifer.
After UF’s offensive line gave up an NCAA-worst 45 sacks last season — including 13 during a three-game losing streak to end the season — Sharpe knows the group has room to improve in year two under McElwain.
"We can be much better than we were," Sharpe said.
Contact Jordan McPherson at jmcpherson@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @J_McPherson1126.
Florida running back Mark Thompson takes a handoff from quarterback Kyle Trask during practice on March 9, 2016, at the Sanders Practice Fields.
