Over the next 22 days, GatorCountry will preview the players that make up the 2013 Florida Gators football team as we inch closer and closer to the season.
Each day we will count down using the player whose jersey number corresponds with how many days there are left until Florida kicks off against Toledo in the Swamp on August 31.
The second player on our countdown today is freshman running back Adam Lane.
History
Adam Lane got things kicked off for the 2013 recruiting class when he became the first recruit to give Will Muschamp and his staff a verbal commitment. Lane chose Florida over Ohio State, Purdue, Florida State, Georgia, USF, South Carolina and Rutgers.
Lane broke his leg and missed his entire junior year. Florida never stopped recruiting him and he said that since Florida was loyal to him, he wanted to be loyal to them and never wavered in his commitment.
Player Evaluation
Strengths
You can call him short, but you can’t call him small. At 5’8” Lane is a little on the short side, but at a listed 222-pounds, he is anything but small. He has a frame that is very comparable to Ray Rice or Maurice Jones-Drew.
Lane is quicker than he is fast and moves well in tight spaces. He does a good job of avoiding tacklers and rarely does a defender square up on him and deliver a big shot. His size makes him very difficult to spot behind the line of scrimmage and also makes him a player that is almost impossible to arm tackle.
Weaknesses
Lane needs to work on his ability as a pass blocker. He will be asked to identify the Mike, as well as know all the protections on offense before he can climb up the depth chart and earn playing time.
Lane doesn’t have great top-end speed and he won’t run away from many defenders in the SEC. Like we said before, he is more quick than he is fast, so while he can make a move to get away from a tackler, he won’t be able to outrun them for long.
What to Expect
Lane is a very solid and reliable running back. His size and durability show that he should be able to take the pounding that the SEC can deliver on a running back and provide a nice change of pace compared to the other players that Florida has on the roster at his position.
The word out of fall camp has been very positive regarding Lane, although he is still swimming some with concepts and blocking schemes like all freshmen. I still think that Lane is a redshirt candidate this season. He should dress and travel to every game and be available in an emergency situation, but with Matt Jones as the starter and Mack Brown, Mark Herndon and Kelvin Taylor also vying for reps, a redshirt might be in Lane’s best interest this season.