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Montrell Johnson back from injury, to start against Miami

Untitled designby:Nick de la Torre•08/28/24•

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators will have their starting running back Montrell Johnson back on the field this Saturday against Miami. The senior running back was atop the depth chart that Billy Napier and the Gators released on Wednesday night.

Johnson was experiencing knee pain during the first week of fall camp. He underwent a scope during the first full week of fall camp and was listed as “week to week” as a result. The scope cleaned out some cartilage but revealed no structural damage. Johnson continued to progress throughout camp and was able to return to practice last week. Now, Johnson has made it all the way back and will start this week against the Miami Hurricanes.

Johnson has led the Gators in carries and yards in each of the last two seasons. He has more than 2,500 career rushing yards and should surpass the 3,000-yard mark this season. Johnson is expected to have an increased workload this year for the Gators as well.

Johnson spoke about an increased share of carries for him this fall while at SEC Media Days in Dallas last week. That won’t bother him at all based on how he thinks he’ll handle it. In fact, he’s completely expecting it from himself.

“I expect to get the ball more coming into the future this next season,” Johnson said. “I’m not too worried about it because I feel like I can hold the load on my own and just going out there and making sure I play mistake-free football.”

Montrell Johnson leading the Gators’ running back room

Behind Johnson is a deep group of running backs. Sophomore Treyaun Webb will serve as Johnson’s chief backup. Webb played in 11 games as a freshman in 2023. Webb tallied 163 rushing yards on 26 attempts with two rushing touchdowns and had four catches for 18 yards. After Webb is true freshman Jadan Baugh followed by junior college transfer Ja’Kobi Jackson, who joined Florida in the spring of 2023 but did not see any game action last season and freshman KD Daniels.

Baugh put together a great spring game in his introduction to Florida fans. He carried the ball 12 times for 77 yards and drew the attention of ESPN analyst, Cole Cubelic.

“This No. 13, Jadan Baugh, whoa,” Cubelic said on his podcast in May. “This is the part that probably takes me most off guard because … when I just watched it, I thought he looked good and I was like, ‘Man, that jump cut was incredible.’ Or like, ‘Look at that. Wow, this kid got some power or his kid can get North and South in a hurry.’ I didn’t realize he was 237 pounds doing the things that he was doing.

“He looked explosive, he looked agile, had great body control, change of direction seemed to be easy for him. I don’t know why more people aren’t talking about No. 13 Jadan Baugh for Florida coming out of that spring game. Because what I saw wowed the hell out of me now and I think a lot of other people should probably feel the same way.”

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