Some SEC fan bases are known to yell “Run the damn ball!” but you’ll never hear it from the Florida faithful.

Jim McElwain likes to remind people, that on his drive to the office, he passes by three quarterbacks – Steve Spurrier, Danny Wuerffel and Tim Tebow – who have their statues outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The livelihood of The Swamp was built on the Fun ‘N’ Gun. And although Tebow did his share of trucking over SEC linebackers, the passing attack has become integral to the identity of Florida football.

In 2015, it looked like a high-powered passing offense was back with the arrival of McElwain. And for six games, it was. Redshirt freshman Will Grier proved to be an ideal fit in McElwain’s offense, engineering a thrilling fourth-quarter comeback against Tennessee and playing a near perfect game in Florida’s 38-10 rout of Ole Miss.

And then, with a failed drug test, Grier, who had led the SEC with a 65.6 completion percentage at the time of his suspension, was out and Treon Harris was in. Harris struggled, and Florida closed its season on a three-game losing skid to FSU, Alabama and Michigan in dreadful fashion.

The Gators will start from scratch at quarterback in 2016. Grier has transferred to West Virginia, and Harris, currently suspended, appears to be destined for a new position if he returns. The UF quarterback depth chart features four new faces: two transfers (Luke Del Rio and Austin Appleby) and two true freshmen (Kyle Trask and Feleipe Franks, a possible redshirt candidate).

Another big piece of the passing game puzzle remains a question mark for the fall. Last season’s leading WR Antonio Callaway (35 catches, 678 yards, 4 TD) was suspended indefinitely prior to the beginning of spring practice. If Callaway does not return, the Gators will need to find a new playmaker to step up.

Passing yards per game (SEC rank): 207.1 (8)
TDs: 20 (6)
INTs: 10 (tied for eighth-most)

QB play

Ideally, for the Gators, Grier would be back leading the 2016 squad. As of right now, none of the four quarterbacks can match his combined natural talent and experience, but each appears to be a better fit for McElwain’s offense than Harris.

One upgrade at the position is height, as the new quarterbacks are all at least 6-feet tall. Harris was just 5-11 and struggled from the pocket last season. Del Rio, who has the edge heading into fall camp, doesn’t really tower at 6-foot-1, but those two inches could make a world of difference.

In the spring game, Del Rio excited Florida fans with a 10-of-11, 176-yard, two-touchdown performance. It’s a great stat line, but Del Rio was leading the first-team offense against the second-team defense in front of a friendly crowd, hardly the same as facing Derek Barnett and Jalen Reeves-Maybin in Neyland Stadium this fall.

Judging by the spring game, Del Rio’s best attribute will be his smarts. In the McElwain-Nussmeier offense, receivers are open when the quarterback can make a quick decision. Harris held onto the ball too long, and it often resulted in improvisation or a sack.

If Del Rio is not QB1, the situation gets a little dicey, but the other three are still upgrades over Harris if for no other reason than they were all signed by McElwain. Appleby, a graduate transfer, has experience but threw 19 interceptions with his 19 touchdowns in three seasons at Purdue. Trask is considered by some to be the most advanced mechanically of the group, but was a backup on his own high school team and is unlikely to be ready for any high-pressure situation. Franks was an athletic, prized recruit, but he threw three picks in the spring game and appears to need a redshirt year to develop.

Receivers/tight ends/RBs

Callaway’s suspension looms large. With Demarcus Robinson (48 catches, 522 yards, 2 TD) choosing to skip his senior season (he’s now a Kansas City Chief), the Gators lack a proven exterior playmaker in Callaway’s absence.

There are numerous veterans on the depth chart, including seniors Ahmad Fulwood and Chris Thompson, but significant contributions from the remaining receivers signed by previous staff have been few and far between. If Callaway does not return, it would likely take a big season from a freshman such as Tyrie Cleveland, Freddie Swain or Josh Hammond, all four-star prospects, to offset his loss and Robinson’s.

Slot receiver and tight end will show as areas of strength if the Gators can work the middle of the field. Converted running back Brandon Powell was effective in the slot when Grier was played last year, and junior college transfer Dre Massey is also quite the speedster. Florida lost its top tight end from 2015, Jake McGee, to graduation, but DeAndre Goolsby and C’yontai Lewis both bring speed, athleticism and good hands to the position. McGee will be missed, but overall the Gators should get more production from interior receivers. Lewis caught two touchdown passes last season, one more than Goolsby.

Running backs were not a prominent part of Florida’s passing game last season — Kelvin Taylor caught just 17 passes for 150 yards. But Jordan Cronkrite, who was listed “athlete” as a recruit, is certainly capable as a pass-catcher. He scored on a 41-yard reception against South Carolina last season, catching a ball between two defenders and racing the final few yards into the end zone.

JUCO transfer Mark Thompson looks to be Florida’s power back, and also caught multiple passes in the spring game. UF’s running back by committee approach will probably bring more to the passing game in 2016.

Play-calling

Offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier was relatively balanced in his play-calling, favoring running on first down (226 rushes) to throwing (167 passes). While that might make Nussmeier appear somewhat conservative, when he did call for a first-down pass, it wasn’t to pick up a small gain and set up second-and-short.

Somewhat surprisingly, first-down passes frequently went for big gains and scores when Gators quarterbacks and pass-catchers connected.

Florida completed 100 of 167 first-down passes (59.9 percent). They completed just 54.2 percent of passes on other downs.

First-down also had the most successful passing plays, by a significant margin.

When it came to gains of 15-plus yards, 33 came on first down, 15 on second down and 14 on third down. For gains of 25-or-more yards, 17 were on first down, five on second and six on third down. The most touchdowns (9) and interceptions (5) also came on first-down passes.

On first look, Gators fans are probably wondering “why didn’t they throw more on first down?” McElwain and Nussmeier would likely credit the run-pass balance on first down for helping create the big plays described above.

Florida’s offensive line was a major issue in 2015 – more on that coming – and better pass protection could result in more first-down passes this season. It’s understandable that no offensive coordinator wants to start a set of downs by moving backwards.

One stat that must improve

Any evaluation of Florida’s 2015 passing game would be remiss without touching on protection. Due to a combination of transfers, injuries and early entry into the NFL Draft, McElwain inherited an offensive line that lacked depth and experience – and Gators quarterbacks took a pounding.

Out of 128 teams, Florida ranked, you guessed it, No. 128 in sacks allowed (45). Only one other SEC team was sacked more than 32 times (Texas A&M, 37). Even if one switches to sacks allowed per game since the Gators played 14 games while most others played only 12, it’s still No. 121 (3.2).

UF’s offensive line will be better in 2016. It’s almost impossible not to be.

Greatest concern

The quarterback situation looks like an upgrade over Harris, but there’s still no proven SEC signal-caller on the roster.

As good as Del Rio looked in the spring game, fans should remember he’s a quarterback who walked on at Alabama and was a backup at Oregon State. Appleby’s interception numbers are a concern. If Trask or Franks take snaps with the game on the line, the Gators are probably in trouble. Very rarely can true freshman quarterbacks step in without going through growing pains.

Better or worse in 2016

In some regards, both, but ultimately, better. While unlikely to resemble the 2015 Gators’ peak performance under Grier, the passing game should be better than it was over the final eight games with Harris as the starter.

It’s difficult to see the 2016 squad putting up better passing numbers than the Weeks 1-6 2015 Gators with Grier, Callaway, Robinson and McGee.

But it really can’t get worse than those final eight games, when Harris topped 170 yards passing just twice. Callaway could be back this fall, and Powell, Massey, Goolsby and Lewis can all work the middle of the field.

Last season, game film showed that McElwain and Nussmeier made the calls to get wide receivers open, but Harris failed to get them the ball. In the spring game, Del Rio was quick to find the open receiver and make the throw. If that happens in the fall, it will be a significant step up from the second half of 2015.