BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- How in the world is Florida going to replace the quarterback who threw for the most yards and touchdowns in a single season in school history, knowing the highest-drafted tight end in NFL history he was throwing to and another first-round NFL Draft pick at receiver are also gone?
It's a daunting task, to say the least.
But if there's one thing Florida fans probably aren't worried about it's how coach Dan Mullen will piece together an offense. Particularly now that he's working with hand-picked quarterback Emory Jones, the highest-rated quarterback he's ever landed as a head coach.
"After coming off a great year, obviously, little bit of challenge," Mullen said at SEC Media Days. "Offensively it will be different this year. Two first-rounders last year on the offensive side of the ball and a second-rounder at quarterback. Guys leaving on to the NFL. It's great to see those guys have that success and go on to the next stage, but there's a lot of production to go fill offensively that we're really excited about on the offensive side of the ball.
"We try to do a great job at creating depth at those positions. Media Days last year I know you would have said: 'You just lost four receivers in the NFL Draft, how do you come back with production in the passing game?'"
Indeed, many were skeptical about Florida's offense after the Gators lost Van Jefferson, Freddie Swain, Tyrie Cleveland and Joshua Hammond, along with running back Lamical Perine, to the NFL following the 2019 campaign.
Turned out it mattered little.
That's how well Mullen, Billy Gonzales and his staff had developed the guys they had on campus. Still, there's less proven production coming back this time around. The aforementioned foursome of receivers were all multi-year contributors.
Florida doesn't have many of those returning in 2020. Sure, Jacob Copeland has recorded 44 catches for 608 yards and five touchdowns over the last two years. Justin Shorter racked up 25 catches for 268 yards and three touchdowns last year.
But outside of those two, virtually everyone else is an unproven youngster.
So the doubt on the outside is at least somewhat understandable.
"We see things that are said about the Gators and whatnot, but this offseason guys' heads have been down and we've just been focusing on accomplishing one goal at the end of the year," defensive end Zachary Carter said.
That goal, of course, is finding some way to get back to Atlanta as SEC East champions to actually challenge for the SEC title outright. That, of course, will hinge largely on how stark the drop-off -- if there is one -- on offense is.
Players are at least encouraged by what they've seen in the spring and in player-run practices this offseason.
"Them boys looking pretty good," linebacker Ventrell Miller said. "They're coming together. The offense looks different, but they still look good."
Different may very well be the key for the Florida offense this fall. You're not going to replace the passing ability of a Kyle Trask. Just won't happen.
So how do you overcome that in aggregate? The hope is that the dual-threat ability Jones brings to the table can help bridge the gap. He's a slippery runner, and he's got a deep and talented backfield that can also relieve some pressure.
Mullen will likely tinker early in the season to get things just right. At the end of the day, he will need new stars to emerge, though. Even if it looks completely different.
"I think the key to it is, and one of the reasons we've been so successful is, never try to take a square peg and put it into a round hole," Mullen said. "It's identifying what our guys do really well and build around the strengths of not just the quarterback but the offense as a whole."
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