The Gators are heading into 2020 without many of their special teams stars, but some returners and one new Gator are ready to fill those shoes.
During Dan Mullen’s tenure at Florida, the Gators have punted significantly less thanks to Mullen’s electric offense. Back in 2017, Johnny Townsend punted 64 times throughout the season and this past year, little brother Tommy Townsend punted only 42 times.
However, Tommy Townsend's graduation in December marked the end of Townsend Punting Inc. at the University of Florida - making way for a new punter from down under.
Jeremy Crawshaw used his 16-hour time difference to his advantage, becoming Florida’s first member of the 2020 recruiting class on early signing day.
Crawshaw is an early enrollee and will be participating in offseason conditioning with the Gators to prepare for his first season of American football.
At long snapper, Florida has two options to replace graduating senior Jacob Tilghman this upcoming season. Their veteran option would be to start redshirt senior Brett DioGuardi who walked on to the team back in 2016.
Florida also has another walk-on as a second option, redshirt sophomore Marco Ortiz. The Gators will likely give the nod to DioGuardi.
The Gators will see the return of junior placekicker Evan McPherson for his third season. Coming in as a freshman, McPherson was tasked with taking over the role for beloved kicker Eddy Piniero, who seemed to never miss, after his decision to forgo his senior season and declare for the NFL Draft.
Those were some big shoes to fill in the eyes of Florida fans. Not only did McPherson fill them, but he also wore them a little better, too. As a freshman, he made 17 of 19 field-goal attempts and didn’t miss a single extra point all season. This past year, he held that same field goal ratio and missed only one extra point.
McPherson has proven himself to be one of those reliable players that will seemingly always come through and get the job done. Behind him on the depth chart is junior Chris Howard, who made an appearance in all three of Florida’s shutouts this season, completing four extra points.
With Freddie Swain and Tyrie Cleveland now gone, Florida’s return game is wide open, but here’s what’s likely to happen.
Expect to see Kadarius Toney returning for the Gators quite a bit next season. This year he returned only one punt and one kickoff for a combined 33 yards, but the senior receiver has some experience. In 2018, he returned seven kickoffs for 133 yards. Toney could definitely be explosive at this position and likely would have seen it more this year had it not been for his injury.
Another option for the Gators is redshirt sophomore receiver Jacob Copeland. The rising star didn’t see any returns this season, but back in 2018, he saw one kickoff return that went for 26 yards. With Swain and Cleveland gone, Mullen and Co. will be looking for guys who could excel with returns, and Copeland could be one of those guys.
