What’s been somewhat lost in Florida’s disappointing 3-5 (2-3 SEC) start to the 2025 season is the year sophomore running back Jadan Baugh is having. At 683 rushing yards through eight games, Baugh is on pace to become Florida’s first 1,000-yard rusher since Kelvin Taylor in 2015.
The Atlanta, Georgia native is one of the most used individual players in college football. Baugh’s 132 rushing attempts ranks tied for 27th in the country, and over half of the guys in front of him have played at least one more game than Florida. If you exclude LIU in week one, where he didn’t play but one snap in the second half, Baugh is averaging over 17.5 carries per game. Not to mention his 22 receptions on the season and role as kick / punt returner.
Baugh’s workload has been heavy, but Florida’s staff doesn’t plan to stop giving their sophomore superstar the ball.
“Let’s keep feeding,” Interim Head Coach Billy Gonzales said on Baugh’s workload. “You got great players keep feeding them the ball. Great players embrace it. Great players want the ball. And I want players that want the ball, and he wants it – whether it’s kickoff return, punt return, whether he’s playing as a slot, coming out of the backfield or running the ball. So again, you earn the right to touch the ball in practice. And he definitely does that. He’s got a great work ethic.”
It’s not just the sheer volume that’s gotten Baugh to this point. The 6’1, 231 pound running back is one of the more efficient players in the country, ranking 9th in the power four and third in the SEC in yards per carry and at 5.2.
One analytical metric used to determine a player’s value is points earned per play. At 0.173 points earned per play, Baugh ranks 7th in the power four among all rushers, according to the SIS DataHub.
“He’s a great football player, great athlete,” Gonzales said on Baugh. “Like I said, he’s like a centerfielder when he’s out there on punts. He’s got incredible ball skills, can catch punts, can catch kicks which he’s been doing for us, and obviously his athletic ability coming out of the backfield as a pass catcher, and then obviously he’s big and strong to be able to run the ball. So he’s really a football player.”
At 231 pounds, Baugh’s ability to make people miss and shed tackles is unique. Baugh’s 3.6 yards after contact on average ranks third in the power four, trailing only BYU’s LJ Martin and Missouri’s Ahmad Hardy.
Every analytical site charts broken and missed tackles differently, so the numbers are going to vary depending on where you look. Either way, Baugh is among the best in the country at making defenders miss. According to SIS DataHub, Baugh ranks fourth in the power four and third in the SEC in broken tackles with 27. According to SEC StatCat, Baugh has broken 52 tackles, posting a broken tackle percentage of 39.10%, the second highest in the SEC. Again, some sites are more lenient or strict on their definition of a broken tackle, which creates a disparity in the numbers. The theme remains the same, however.
“I would say one thing from Jadan’s game is his patience,” redshirt freshman running back KD Daniels said on Baugh. “He’s light on his feet and his ability to make people miss in open space. I feel like that’s a big part in Jadan’s game.”
Baugh is averaging 85.3 rushing yards per game this season. If he stays at that pace, he’ll finish with 1,024.5 yards and become just the 9th unique running back in Florida program history to eclipse 1,000 yards rushing in a single season.
Florida is set to play Kentucky in week 11, the team Baugh ran for 106 yards and five touchdowns against last season.