{"id":11022,"date":"2023-07-19T20:21:48","date_gmt":"2023-07-20T01:21:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=11022"},"modified":"2023-07-19T20:21:48","modified_gmt":"2023-07-20T01:21:48","slug":"ricky-pearsall-excited-for-new-role-as-outside-wr-punt-returner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/ricky-pearsall-excited-for-new-role-as-outside-wr-punt-returner\/","title":{"rendered":"Ricky Pearsall excited for new role as outside WR, punt returner"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASHVILLE \u2014 Florida receiver Ricky Pearsall<\/a><\/strong>, back with the Gators<\/a> as a fifth-year senior, is excited for his expanded role in 2023. He\u2019s the highest-graded returner on offense<\/a>, per PFF. <\/p>\n

Pearsall is the lone returning starter at his position, although he will play a new WR spot this season, and he\u2019ll also start on special teams. <\/p>\n

At SEC Media Days, Pearsall told Gators Online<\/em> that he\u2019s now going to return punts. Xzavier Henderson<\/a><\/strong> was UF\u2019s punt returner last season, but he transferred to Cincinnati. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m taking it over. For sure,\u201d Pearsall said with a grin. \u201cWe were doing punt returns (Tuesday) and I just ran down the field telling people, \u2018This is what I\u2019m most excited for.\u2019 I always knew I could return punts. It\u2019s in the blood. My dad used to return punts in college.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pearsall\u2019s father, Ricky Pearsall Sr., played college football at Northern Arizona.<\/p>\n

In 1996, Pearsall earned All-America recognition as a returner. Against Western New Mexico, he set an FCS record for most punt return yards in a game with 216. His 490 punt return yards that season remain a school record.<\/p>\n

Pearsall had a punt return in Florida\u2019s spring game and returned four punts for 27 yards (6.75 avg.) last season. <\/p>\n

\u201cObviously it\u2019s a nerve-wracking position to play, but I\u2019m going to be the guy to do it,\u201d Pearsall said. \u201cI did deal with my foot injury early on last season. Early on, we were planning to have me as the punt returner, but obviously it didn\u2019t work out because of the circumstances at play. It was just more a load (management) kind of thing.\u201d <\/p>\n

Pearsall playing outside WR<\/h2>\n

In addition to punt return duties, Pearsall will also be playing a new WR spot on offense. He started in the slot last season but lined up exclusively at outside receiver in the spring game. <\/p>\n

That was by design. <\/p>\n

\u201cI barely played in the slot in the spring game for a reason. Actually, all of spring I really played outside receiver,\u201d Pearsall revealed to Gators Online<\/em> at SEC Media Days. \u201cIt was kind of spring thing because I\u2019ve been repping slot way more than I rep the outside receiver, so they obviously want me to get more reps at outside receiver as well. Just being the versatile player that I know I am and being able to show it. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is different being in the slot and being an outside receiver. Not a lot of guys can go in the slot and play outside receiver and not even notice a difference. So being able to keep on repping that and be comfortable in both positions, even though I thought I was anyway, I just love it.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Arizona State transfer led the Gators last year with a team-high 661 receiving yards and five touchdowns on 33 catches. Pearsall said Napier, wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales and assistant David Doeker approached him this offseason about playing more outside receiver, and he embraced it. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a mutual thing. They mentioned it, I mentioned it and then it just kind of happened,\u201d Pearsall said. \u201cThere are different signalers for different positions. Some of the outside signalers like Coach Deck, he really wanted me to come out there and play outside with him as well. But it was kind of more of mutual thing. <\/p>\n

\u201cObviously me, I\u2019m going to press the issue to play everywhere just because I know I can. That\u2019s going to benefit us in every situation, and I don\u2019t want to get off the field. So, if we call 12 personnel, I\u2019m outside guy. And when we\u2019re 12 personnel, we can set up formations where I\u2019m in the slot. So, just being versatile with it.\u201d <\/p>\n

The post Ricky Pearsall excited for new role as outside WR, punt returner<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NASHVILLE \u2014 Florida receiver Ricky Pearsall, back with the Gators as a fifth-year senior, is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11022\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}