Week 2 of Florida’s fall camp and the Gators remain in a familiar spot: There’s simply no clear-cut starter at quarterback.

Florida’s first scrimmage further muddied the waters, with Feleipe Franks, long thought to be ahead, performing below expectation Monday night, consistently forcing throws and locking onto primary reads.

How common a problem has this become in Gainesville?

Florida has started more quarterbacks (12) than any program in the SEC since the departure of Tim Tebow in 2009, and the Gators have had two quarterbacks start at least two games in every season since 2011.

Entering camp, the Gators figured to have three candidates for the starting job: Franks, redshirt sophomore Kyle Trask, and true freshman Emory Jones.

After just over a week of practice, Dan Mullen remains firm that there is no starter yet, even as before Monday night’s scrimmage most insiders had tapped redshirt sophomore Franks as the leader, followed by Trask, who is playing through an injury to his throwing hand that has affected his accuracy. Jones, going through his first fall camp, has slipped behind to a clear-cut third on the depth chart.

Mullen has stated he’d like to name a starter before the opening game against Charleston Southern.

What should be clear, however, is that the starter is subject to change.

Mullen has insisted since he arrived back on Florida’s campus that he’d play the guy (or the guys) who helps the Gators be as successful as they can this season, which he views as essential to laying a foundation for the years to come. Come Labor Day weekend, maybe that’s Feleipe Franks, but should Franks continue to struggle with locking into primary reads and failing to make the simple throw to keep the offense on schedule, it could change in an instant.

One interesting debate, regardless of whether Franks or Trask is the opening day starter, is what will become of true freshman Jones, a prep All-American.

Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Jones, a 4-star recruit and the nation’s No. 5-ranked dual-threat QB out of tiny Heard County in Georgia, was perhaps the largest recruiting victory of Mullen’s transition recruiting class. A longtime Ohio State commit, Mullen secured a flip — and Jones’ signature — just weeks after arriving on campus, edging out a late and furious push from rival FSU.

In the end, Jones noted that Mullen’s resume developing quarterbacks, which is among the best in the sport, was what separated Florida. Who wouldn’t want the chance to play for a coach that has developed the likes of Alex Smith, Chris Leak, Tim Tebow, Cam Newton, Dak Prescott and Nick Fitzgerald?

Jones enrolled early, and at a practice late in the spring, no less than the patron saint of Florida football, Steve Spurrier, the HBC himself, told SDS that Jones was “the one guy in the quarterback group that appeared to be getting better and impressing every day.”

That’s high praise from a guy who knows more than most anyone about quarterbacks, whatever conditions you attach to the meaning of playing well in spring practice.

The early comparison from Spurrier for Jones was to Jalen Hurts, the 2016 SEC Offensive Player of the Year who is now battling for his old job at Alabama. Like Hurts, Jones is an elite athlete with good speed a big arm who didn’t throw the ball a ton as a senior in high school. Unlike Hurts, who played at Channelview High in Texas (enrollment 2,300), Jones played at tiny Heard County, with an enrollment 640. As such, Hurts entered Alabama having at a minimum competed against excellent competition in the elite world of Texas high school football. Jones arrived in Gainesville this spring with no such experience.

Nevertheless, enrolling early helped, and Jones was effective in Florida’s final scrimmage and was decent in the spring game, finishing 3-of-7 for 93 yards with 2 touchdowns and an interception. His best throw, a strike to tight end Kenmore Gamble, shown at 1:15 below, was followed by an outstanding run off left end for fifteen yards on the following play that demonstrated why Jones is easily the most natural running quarterback Mullen has on his roster. Jones then capped the sequence off with an easy touchdown toss to Gamble a play later, on a secondary read no less.

Not bad for your first spring game.

Mullen hasn’t started a true freshman at quarterback in his career.

Alex Smith played in only two games as a true freshman before shining under Mullen’s tutelage as a sophomore and junior. Chris Leak had two years as a SEC starter under his belt at Florida upon Mullen’s arrival, and his presence kept Tebow from being a full-time starter until his sophomore campaign, when he won the Heisman. Tebow kept Newton on the bench until he transferred. Chris Relf, Tyler Russell, Prescott and Nick Fitzgerald all waited their turn at Mississippi State, with Fitzgerald and Prescott going on to become SEC stars. Mullen’s track record dictates he’ll bring Jones along slowly.

That said, the game is different now. Kids are impatient.

Hurts started from the beginning at Alabama. Deshaun Watson backed up Cole Stoudt as a freshman at Clemson, but anyone watching could tell he was obviously the guy from the moment he stepped on the field in situational football for the Tigers.

Jake Fromm started early in his freshman year at Georgia after Jacob Eason, who started as a true freshman, went down with an injury. A year later, Eason is gone but Justin Fields, Georgia’s latest 5-star QB, expects to push Fromm for playing time. Tua Tagovailoa might have left Alabama had he not received his chance in the national title game. These are but a few of the many examples of prized recruits who step on campus expecting to play immediately and threatening to leave if they don’t.

What was clear to Spurrier last spring is that Jones is a gamer, a kid who can make an impact this autumn. That appeared clear again in Florida’s first scrimmage of the fall, when Jones was by some measure Florida’s most effective runner from the QB position.

Jones has plenty to work on, especially as a thrower.

He has terrific arm strength but rarely throws a tight spiral. His accuracy, while quite good on short, quick drops, leaves plenty to be desired on intermediate throws. He lacks consistency, and will make a nice play or throw on first down only to miss a guy by 5 yards on second down. These are all errors that speak to a player who isn’t ready to start at quarterback for Florida.

These aren’t errors that justify a redshirt.

In fact, in Mullen’s run-heavy spread, having a quarterback who can hit the edge on in both power and zone run schemes is a tremendous asset. Jones offers more in that respect than either Franks or Trask, so why not use him?

It would be surprising if Mullen and his offensive coaching staff didn’t find a way to use Jones in some packages this autumn, and not only in run packages, which make the offense predictable, but in some of his power-play-action concepts, where Jones can feign run and make a simple one-two read.

The time of redshirting and waiting may have passed in college football. At a place like Florida, where a lack of consistency at the quarterback position has the program in the throes of a nearly decade-long funk, there’s simply no reason to wait.

In the end, the case for playing Emory Jones in some capacity this fall is simple: he can make the Gators better, now, and if because of Jones, Florida is better this year, that builds momentum that bodes well for the future.

Cover photo via @GatorsFB