Friday, May 13, 2011

Florida running back corps still deep without Blakely

Mike Blakely certainly didn’t leave the cupboard bare at Florida with his announcing that he was the transferring.

The former Manatee High standout running back was going to be in for a battle to get some carries, but long term it might have worked out for him. Whichever way you look at it, he would have a battle on his hands with other highly touted running backs coming in from the class of 2012.

In 2012, the Gators will have seniors Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey, who both averaged more than 7 yards per carry. There is also junior Mike Gillislee, a tough short yardage type back and sophomore Mack Brown (5-10, 193) who is very similar in size to Blakely and had only three carries last year.

So it doesn’t appear that the Gators will find themselves short-handed at running back next season and if injuries start to pile up they can always go back to Venice product Tre’ Burton.

Blakely is the fourth Gator to leave and the other three have apparently decided on a destination. Chris Dunkley is expected to sign with USF, Javares McRoy is headed to Texas Tech where he joins his brother and Janoris Jenkins, who was tossed out by Florida head coach Will Muschamp is likely headed for North Alabama.

Jenkins options are limited. Under NCAA rules with only year of eligibility left and no redshirt available he can only transfer to a Division II and play right away. North Alabama head coach Terry Bowden has taken advantage of that rule to land some high quality players/

UNA was 9-4 last year and advanced to the NCAA Division II playoffs for the sixth straight year.

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