Freshman receiver Andy Jean is set to have an increased role after sophomore WR Caleb Douglas suffered a lower body injury that will sideline him for 4-6 weeks.
After not playing in the Gators’ season opener against Utah, Jean appeared in three of Florida’s next four games, recording a career high 30 snaps against Kentucky in week five.
Billy Napier credited Jean’s increase in playing time to his recent practice habits.
“His opportunities have been increasing because he’s been preparing better, showing a better grasp, practicing better, more efficient, more productive, performing in practice. We’ve been playing him here the last couple of weeks as a result of that,” Billy Napier said on Jean.
“Obviously his role will grow,” Napier said on who will step up following Douglas’ injury. “We get [Marcus] Burke back. Burke was banged up last week. I think that could help, but Andy’s role will definitely grow here.”
In 11 snaps against Charlotte, Jean tallied two explosive plays, including his first career catch of 32 yards and his first career rush of 25 yards.
“It was good to see him be able to execute and to get some experience. I think that’s going to help his confidence. You can just see it. He got a chance to play in the Charlotte game and experience some success,” Napier said on Jean.
“Sometimes a young, talented player, when they experience some success, that kind of fuels the fire, and then they show up to practice a little bit different, right? We’ve got a number of players that are like that. Andy’s a good example,” Napier said.
One week later, Jean set his career high in receptions with four and tied his career high in receiving yards (32) against Kentucky.
“He’s a good overall receiver,’ CB Jalen Kimber said on Jean. “He can run routes, real quick in and out of breaks and things like that. If you’re not on pointe, Andy, he can slip away from you.”
“Andy has good speed and route running,” Kimber added. “He knows how to run the route. Somebody that’s not on point on the defensive side of the ball, for somebody that knows how to run the route, they could have a real problem.”
Jean is likely to take on an increased role as the outside receiver following Douglas’ injury, but Jean has the versatility to move around the offense as 21.2% of his snaps have come in the slot.
The 6-1, 190-pound Miami native was a standout receiver in fall camp, so much so that I predicted him as a starter in my preseason depth chart. Jean has a chance to record his first career start in week six against Vanderbilt.