GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Just over a year removed from his transition to SEC football from JUCO baseball, tight end Lucas Krull is ready to make an impact.

"I'm feeling really good," Krull told Gators Territory.

Krull saw limited playing time in his first season in orange and blue, hauling in six receptions for 75 yards. However, 2019 is the year that not only he, but the tight end group as a whole, is expected to become a bigger factor in Florida's offense.

The redshirt junior missed the majority of spring practices with a shoulder injury, a setback at a time with valuable reps to be had at tight end to compete for a role.

"I’m coming off, you know, not playing spring ball. It was frustrating," Krull continued at Media Day. "But you know I did what I could and I stayed positive, and then when I was back healthy I had to do what I had do to. I had to catch up, worked a lot of extra time, and now I’m feeling really good and ready to go."

What made the injury frustrating was that it came during one of the NCAA's mandatory practices without pads. Krull's injury could have been prevented with shoulder pads on.

As the old cliche in football goes though, injuries happen. It's on the player to rehab and complete their responsibilities through recovery. And the extra time that Krull dedicated to his craft during his recovery hasn't gone unnoticed.

"For a guy like him getting back," head coach Dan Mullen opened up at the podium, "He's put in a bunch of extra work in all the meetings and knowledge in the position to know."

The 6-6, 257 lb. athlete is now beginning to see his effort pay off: Krull worked with the first team exclusively on Day 1 of training camp. In those drills, Krull looked sharp, displaying good footwork and agility at the position. His route running has improved, and he is progressing in his first step off of the line as a blocker.

A rotation between Krull, Kemore Gamble, and Kyle Pitts began on Day 2, but Krull's immediately inclusion in the offense is a positive sign.

"I just want to be that every day tight end," said Krull. "I just want to be a guy they don’t need to worry about taking out... that guy who they don’t have to worry about if I’m blocking or running a route or if I’m out on a one on one with a corner[back]. I want to be able to put my skillset to where they don’t ever have to worry."

For a player who provides extreme athleticism at his size, there's plenty of ways the Gators can utilize Krull's skillset the offense. Many offenses are starting to give big, athletic tight ends the role of slot receiver, or "big slot", creating mismatches in the middle of the field.

Krull believes that he's a perfect fit for "big slot", and stated "They [Florida] know that. That's something that they’re going to correlate a lot on size matchups, for our tight end unit as a whole, honestly."

The Gators will still utilize the traditional, in-line tight end position in packages. However, the growth of "big-slot", as well as H-back, will allow the versatile tight end room to contribute across the board. That idea has Krull giddy and ready to get things rolling.

"I think they’re really going to move us around a lot, and throw some special stuff in there for us. I’m really excited."