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Dan Mullen discusses why Feleipe Franks was named starting QB to open season
By Jake Rill
Published:
The Florida quarterback competition came to a close on Monday when the Gators released their depth chart, which showed redshirt sophomore Feleipe Franks as the starter.
Franks played 11 games and made eight starts for Florida last season, but past performance didn’t factor into the decision, coach Dan Mullen said during his press conference on Monday.
“We have some young quarterbacks that I think all have really bright futures and in their development, all of them are a long way from finished products of what we need to see,” Mullen said. “As [quarterbacks coach] Brian [Johnson] and I sat down, we looked at who would give us the best opportunity to win now. Not projecting where they’re going to be or how they’re going to develop or how they’ll grow throughout the years, but right now, we head out on the field, running our offense, who’s going to give us the best opportunity to win.
“We felt Feleipe and his ability to extend plays, some of his athleticism, right now will give us the best opportunity to win games.”
Mullen added that it was a “pretty close” competition, which also included redshirt sophomore Kyle Trask and true freshman Emory Jones. But Franks had the slight edge over the other two.
“It was the extra little things of the extending the plays, the intangibles, because I think they were pretty even, back and forth, with learning the offense and developing,” Mullen said.
Last season, Franks passed for 1,438 yards and nine touchdowns.
The Gators open the season on Saturday against Charleston Southern at 7:30 p.m. ET.
For Mullen’s full press conference, watch below:
Jake Rill contributes to news coverage for Saturday Down South. He has covered the SEC since 2016.
