Emory Jones continues to take steps forward in his development.
“I’m very comfortable out there now. I mean I been doing it for like a year and a half now and I do it every day in practice,” said Jones last week.
The redshirt freshman has contributed a few times this season and on Saturday it was no different. Jones was Florida's leading rusher in the win over Missouri, with six carries for 39 yards.
This was just one week after his three-touchdown performance against Vanderbilt - he finished second on the team by running for 34 yards.
The Gators' have struggled in the ground game, there is no question about it. The Gators are ranked 13th in the SEC with 124.1 yards per game. Not ideal in Dan Mullen's offense.
This season the Gators head coach has had to be a little creative, calling guys like Jones, Kadarius Toney and even Josh Hammond to overcome the ground game woes. In the same vein, running back Lamical Perine has seen his game tape include several reps with the senior catching the ball rather than running with the ball.
"Guys understand what we’ve been able to excel at," said receiver Van Jefferson. "We’ve been able to put ourselves in a position to be successful at the things we can excel at. We’ve been able to throw the ball all over people this year. Coach Mullen has done a good job of putting people in position to make plays, getting the matchups that we want, and just trying to be successful and put points on the board.”
And Jones has done well when his number is called.
It cannot be easy for a quarterback to be waiting in the wings throughout the game. But when the Peach State native is asked to contribute, Jones steps up and takes his opportunity.
“You know what I think he’s really done a good job of… being ready,” Mullen said after the win over Mizzou. “Of sitting there and ‘hey I’m going to roll you in’ and you never know when it’s coming, I’m going to roll you in. Roll and be ready to go. And I think (he’s been) that dynamic runner.”
Although Jones has mostly added a dynamic plays on the ground, against Vanderbilt and against Missouri, Mullen opened the playbook a bit more, which saw the signal caller throw the ball. In the win against the Tigers, Jones connected with Kadarius Toney for a 44-yard completion.
“I haven’t opened it up completely for him in the pass game fully, but I think it’s starting to build and build,” he said. “His confidence of ‘hey, I’m a playmaker’, alright, and I think you saw it on that pass to KT. ‘I’m a playmaker, I’ll whip it down the field with the best of them now’. He did it last week, he did it this week, and you’re starting to see it more and more.”
Every time Jones steps on to the field he gets a bit better - reps will do that.
“You see it today and he’s running the ball, that long pass he had to KT, I feel like he’s getting very comfortable and he’s coming along good," said Jefferson. " Next year is going to be a real competition between those guys.”
“He believes in himself,” senior receiver Josh Hammond said of Jones. “The coaching staff believes in him. Coach Mullen does a good job of putting him in position to be successful in the things he’s good at. When he gets his opportunity, he goes out and makes the most of it.”
"He works really, really hard and he’s been getting better every week,” quarterback Kyle Trask said. “The sky is the limit for him.”
Although Mullen has not opened up the playbook completely to Jones, it does not mean he sees Jones as only a running threat when he is put into games.
“There’s some plays that he has in that Coach Mullen designs for him to throw,” said Jefferson. “When he gets in he just executes the play that he has, whether it’s a run or a pass, he gets in there and executes to the best of his ability and does a great job.”
“I have complete trust in him to do it,” Mullen said of Jones. “Kyle’s pretty good, too. Those guys, I love how they’ve handled it. They run on the field, they run off. Kyle’s never questioned anything when Emory is in. You know, they don’t question any of that, they just go do their thing.”
