Greg McElroy believes Feleipe Franks has regressed since the end of 2018 season
By Jake Rill
Published:
Although Florida won its season opener over Miami, not everybody is sold on the Gators being a contender in the SEC this season. Or on redshirt junior quarterback Feleipe Franks having a strong season.
On Monday, ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy said during “College Football Live” that he thinks Franks has taken a step back since last season. Franks went 17-for-27 for 254 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in the Gators’ win over the Hurricanes on Saturday.
“I thought Feleipe Franks actually regressed from what he displayed down the stretch last year and still didn’t showcase the maturity that you’d want to see from him as he heads into Year No. 3 as a starter,” McElroy said on the show, according to 247sports.com’s Austin Nivison. “Florida has an awful lot to figure out in the next two weeks.”
Franks passed for 2,457 yards and 24 touchdowns with only six interceptions in 13 games last season. That was a marked improvement from 2017, when he passed for 1,438 yards, nine touchdowns and eight interceptions in 11 games.
With that experience, it’d be expected that Franks would continue to progress as he just began his second season in head coach Dan Mullen’s offense. But that wasn’t what McElroy, a former Alabama quarterback, took away from Franks’ first performance of the season.
McElroy also cited inconsistency on the offensive line as a potential concern for Florida, which he doesn’t believe looked like a team capable of repeating the success of its 10-win season a year ago.
“They could still achieve an awful lot, but if they play anywhere near like they did [on Saturday], that’s an eight-win football team, maybe at best,” McElroy said.
Franks and the Gators don’t play again until Sept. 7, when they host UT Martin at 7:30 p.m. ET. After notching a 24-20 win over Miami, Florida is in good position to open the year 2-0 before a big SEC East road game at Kentucky on Sept. 14.
Jake Rill contributes to news coverage for Saturday Down South. He has covered the SEC since 2016.
