Gators’ electric RB Evan Pryor eager to prove his worth alongside Jadan Baugh
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GAINESVILLE — Despite two stops primarily as a college backup, running back Evan Pryor saw a chance to finally blossom in a crowded backfield at Florida.
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The electric transfer from Cincinnati has learned to capitalize on his opportunities rather than dwell on the ones he’s lost.
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While other suitors offered him the chance for more touches, Pryor wanted to give the Gators a game-changing complement to star tailback Jadan Baugh.
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“I had opportunities to go be the No. 1 at other spots, but I don’t think that’s what it’s about for me in my play style,” Pryor said Tuesday. “I was never a guy who needed 20, 25 carries to be productive. Jadan’s gonna do what he does with his amount of carries, and I feel like whatever comes after that between us and the backs we’ll work it out and it’ll be fine.”
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Pryor’s breakaway speed, vision and pass-catching ability give offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner a weapon he can pick his spots to deploy in a variety of ways. But the Gators’ new tailback believes his football IQ separates him.
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“The game I play within my ears … I’m a smart player when out there on the field,” Pryor said. “You see me run by people, but what gives me the advantage is my thought process before the play even starts.”
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Early in Pryor’s college career, his mind was racing at Ohio State.
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A top-100 prospect expected to thrive in the Big Ten’s top offense, Pryor watched fellow true freshmen TreVeyon Henderson star in an attack averaging more than 45 points in 2021 behind quarterback C.J. Stroud.
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Ahead of the 2022 season, Pryor tore the patellar tendon in his left knee during preseason camp, beginning a year of introspection, discovery and, at times, distraction from the sport that had shaped his identity.
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Unable bend his left leg for two months, he lay in bed some days playing the “NBA 2K” basketball videogame, eschewing football’s “Madden.”
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“I just learned about myself, and it really had nothing to do with football,” he said. “Leading up into that I was highly recruited out of high school. Everything in my life was just football, football, football, football. They take it away from you for the whole 12, 13 months.
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“You kind of got to figure out who you are, what you’re going to do, it’s just a shocking moment. But I just kept my faith, kept working and kept improving in other places of life.”
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Personable and engaging, the 23-year-old Pryor tried his hand in sports broadcasting, even shadowing legendary play-by-play man Jim Nantz for the weekend at the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament in Chicago.
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“My dad was huge on sports,” he said. “I grew up watching Mike and Mike, shows like that on ESPN. So that’s my other passion.”
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At Florida, Pryor has worked some with broadcast teams on campus. But the 23-year-old has plenty of work to do on the field before segueing to the booth.
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The past two seasons at Cincinnati gave him a chance to showcase his skills after several years effectively on the sidelines.
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The COVID-19 pandemic pushed Pryor’s senior high school season to the spring of 2021, when he’d already enrolled at Ohio State. Eight appearances in 2021 and 2023 with the Buckeyes sandwiched another lost season to injury.
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“By the time 2024 came, and I was at Cincinnati, it had been about almost four years since I got some real game action,” he said.
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Pryor provided the Bearcats a change of pace to two-time 1,000-yard rusher and current Arizona Cardinal Corey Kiner, scoring seven times and gaining 597 yards from scrimmage on just 71 touches. In 2025, Pryor split time more evenly with Tawee Walker, finishing with 522 yards on 79 carries and three touchdowns, while adding 10 catches for 107 yards and a touchdown.
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The highlight of the season was a 111-yard, two-touchdown day on just 10 carries during the Bearcats’ 38-30 upset of No. 14 Iowa State on Oct. 4. A 30-yard run against the Cyclones was one of eight of 30 yards or longer in two seasons at Cincinnati. He also had four catches for at least 20 yards, including an 80-yard score in 2024 against West Virginia.
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Before heading to college, Pryor’s big-play ability was his signature at Hough High School at Cornelius, outside Charlotte, North Carolina. There, he became the No. 7 prospect at his position in the 2021 class after compiling 1,130 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns and 646 yards and eight scores on 38 catches in 2019 for coach Matthew Jenkins.
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“What separated him from a lot of people is he’s got unbelievable hands,” Jenkins told the Orlando Sentinel. “Because of some injuries he lined up a wide receiver as much as he did a tailback. You can throw him the ball anywhere on the football field.”
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Pryor can score from anywhere on the field, too.
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Two plays stick out to Jenkins, now in his 33rd season coaching the sport.
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During a 2018 playoff game against rival Mallard Creek, Pryor took a handoff on an inside zone run, slipped a tackle by linebacker Trent Simpson, now a Baltimore Ravens starter, and ran 91 yards untouched.
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The following fall, Pryor turned a 12-yard dig route into an 80-yard scamper down the sideline during a 36-27 playoff loss to Richmond Senior.
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“Those two moments show his versatility,” Jenkins said.
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Pryor’s talents should complement Baugh and give Faulkner options.
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“I didn’t really get a chance to step out there and show what I could do,” Pryor said. “These last two years at Cincinnati, I was just building my game. Here, my last season of eligibility at Florida, it’s my time to really just put it all together — my final product.”
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Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com
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