Feleipe Franks puts up some ugly numbers in Florida’s first scrimmage of spring practice
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Dan Mullen takes over the Florida program with a strong reputation as a quarterback developer. That’s a title he’s earned at stops at Mississippi State, in his previous stop in Gainesville, and at Utah. Despite all the success he’s experienced coaching up QBs in his career, the task of doing so at Florida in 2018 may be his toughest yet.
Feleipe Franks has been a huge disappointment to date while Kyle Trask has yet to see any meaningful action at any level of football — he didn’t start for his high school football team. Based on the stats Franks put up during the first scrimmage of spring practice in Gainesville, there’s a lot of work to be done.
According to Robbie Andreu of the Gainesville Sun, and shared by Edgar Thompson of the Orlando Sentinel, Trask put Franks to shame during the Friday scrimmage:
Final #Gators QB stats from scrimmage per @RobbieAndreu : Franks 7-22 for 127 yards, 2 TDs, 3 INTs; Trask 12-18 for 182 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT
— Edgar Thompson (@osgators) March 30, 2018
True freshman Emory Jones also got some action in the scrimmage, but he didn’t do much with his opportunity. Here are his numbers according to Jake Winderman of ESPN Gainesville: 2 for 9 passing for negative three yards. He also rushed the ball four times for 15 yards.
Progress shouldn’t be expected to come overnight for Franks, after all, it took Dak Prescott nearly three years before he showed much in the same offense at Mississippi State, but this performance has to be somewhat unsettling for Gator fans. Florida has a tricky SEC opponent the second weekend of the season in Kentucky before traveling to Tennessee two weeks later.
If Franks can’t figure it out, Neyland Stadium looks to be one daunting first road start for Trask or Jones next season.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
