Gators RB Montrell Johnson Jr. accepts invitation to East-West Shrine Bowl
After recently accepting an invitation to the 2025 Hula Bowl, Florida Gators running back Montrell Johnson Jr. has now agreed to play in the East-West Shrine Bowl.
The game is on the calendar for Jan. 30 and will take place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. It will be broadcasted on the NFL Network and is one of the final games where a player can showcase their craft ahead of the NFL Draft.
As for the Hula Bowl, that event will be in Orlando on Jan. 11 at the UCF FBC Mortgage Stadium. It features 120 of the Sunshine State’s top seniors and will draw scouts from the NFL, UFL and CFL.
Despite missing time as a senior in 2024, Montrell Johnson Jr. has rushed for 598 yards and six touchdowns off 100 carries, averaging 5.9 yards per attempt. He has also contributed with 13 catches for 64 yards. He has a 4-star On3 college ranking.
Johnson’s last two games, however, were arguably his best of the season, as he rushed for 107 yards and a touchdown against LSU and then 99 yards and another score vs. Florida State.
Those bounceback performances earned him nothing but praise from Florida head coach Billy Napier.
“He worked his tail off to get over the high ankle, the bone bruise. Missed a chunk of the season there in the middle. You could just see in this last week against Ole Miss, when he’s on, he’s a little different. His patience, his acceleration, his vision. And he showed some finishing speed tonight,” Napier said after Florida’s victory over Florida State.
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“So, Montrell, 3,000 yards. I mean, how many backs in the country right now have 3,000 yards rushing? He’s taken full advantage, and he’s a class act off the field. He’s everything you would want in a player to be in terms of representing the program.”
Johnson, a native of New Orleans who started his career at Louisiana before transferring to Florida once Napier arrived, has career totals of 3,089 rushing yards and 33 touchdowns behind 5.3 yards per carry. He has 411 receiving yards along with two additional scores as well.
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