GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Kadarius Toney is expected to be out for a couple of weeks, which means Dan Mullen will look to his talented group of receivers for the next man up.
“KT is one of those special players," said Gators quarterback Feleipe Franks. "He’s doing the right thing right now, in the training room every day. That just shows you how dedicated he is in getting ready to get back and play ball with the guys. Like I said, he’ll be back soon. We’ve got guys that will step up in his place. We’ve got [Jacob] Copeland, we’ve got Josh [Hammond], Freddie [Swain], those guys that play H that will step up and just continue to keep the offense moving smoothly.”
Franks is absolutely correct. The Gators have plenty of options in that wide receiver room. However, Copeland is the receiver stealing a lot of the attention.
Copeland, who saw his college career halt due to injuries, finally received some significant playing time on Saturday against UT-Martin. The redshirt freshman caught three balls for 23 yards and one touchdown and ran for 15 yards.
"He took snaps at running back too, so you can put him anywhere on the field and he’s gonna make plays," said cornerback Marco Wilson. "That was really only the first time he got to do something serious in a game and that’s only the beginning for him, I think that guy is gonna be a great player for the season to come.”
Copeland's explosive speed and pass catching ability could very well fit the role vacated by Toney.
“I’m not going to necessarily say that they’re the exact same player," said safety Donovan Stiner. "I think they do different things, but yeah, I think he can. He’s really talented, so I think he’ll make a lot of plays.”
Stiner goes head to head with Copeland a lot in practice and sees the receiver's talent first hand.
“He’s really talented. He can make a lot of things happen," said the Gators safety. "He’s really talented. He’s strong, he’s fast, so I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do since KT is out for now.”
Mullen, however, is not showing his cards. The Gators head coach is more hesitant in crowning Copeland Toney's successor, but that does not mean Mullen is not impressed with what the Florida native has already accomplished.
“He’s a physical guy. Has size. He has that ability where he’s a little bit multiple," explained Mullen. "He’s still learning how to be an every-down receiver. But a lot like Kadarius in that way, you can do different things, put the ball in his hands and he can make things happen. A little different style than Kadarius. It’s not like hey, we’re going to plug him in with what things Kadarius was doing. But there are some things that he does pretty well with the ball in his hands. But all those guys are, you know what I mean? Freddie Swain, he’s a great kick returner, punt returner. You can put the ball in his hands, you’re going to get something a little different than with Josh or Van Jefferson. Just have some tweaks on those things, who’s doing what.”
On Saturday, we saw first hand what Copeland's first collegiate touchdown meant for not only him, but the team. So it's safe to say that Copeland has the respect and confidence of his teammates.
"It’s just more his grit," said Franks. "When players get injured and things don’t go the way they want, how do they respond? I think that he’s responded in all the right ways by continuing to keep his body healthy, continuing to do the right steps to maintain his body healthy. I think that’s important when you first get to college and things don’t go the way you want them to go."
"He definitely has a lot of juice to him. That speed is one thing thats big with Cope," said wide receiver Josh Hammond. "You saw it with the jet sweep and little plays like that. Those are things that he can take to the house, and you wouldn’t think of him because we haven’t used him that much because we always use KT.
" It’s going to be exciting. I think we can use him in a lot of different ways. He is going to be excited as well."
