Jim McElwain excited about Florida’s offensive potential, talks QB competition

Florida coach Jim McElwain met with the media Wednesday to discuss the state of his Gator program heading into fall camp. Despite the uncertainty surrounding the starting quarterback duties, the third-year Gator coach could not hide his excitement regarding the potential of the offense in Gainesville.

Here are the highlights of what McElwain had to say:

• Notes the true competition at so many positions, unlike previous fall camps – “Good numbers at a number of spots.”
• McElwain says this camp is going to be uncomfortable for our guys. Sweating every detail. It’s going to be hard, it’s going to be intentional.
• We have a lot of good players, not all of them have played but they came here to play.
• We had six guys graduate on Saturday, “I’m proud of that.”
• Jordan Sherrit still has some tests to do, “Don’t count him as missing.”
• Still waiting for things to clear up for James Robinson.
• Don’t anticipate anyone missing the first game due to suspension, although there are still requirements, “All hands on deck.”
• Markell Harris, Rick Wells, McArthur Burnett, Nick Smith. Players that are limited: Jordan Sherrit, Antonio Riles.
• Malik Zaire brings competition to the QB room – Despite what was said at SEC Media Days, I don’t know who the starting QB is at this point.
• Expectations for the offense? The offensive line is dramatically improved. The depth at WR presents unique options. The RB room is real. Excited about QB competition. I can finally say the strength of our team is the offensive line. We’ll be alright.
• Luke Del Rio: It will be interesting to see what he can do coming off his injury. He was 5-1 as a starter, should have been 5-0 — I shouldn’t have played him vs. Arkansas.
• Feleipe Franks: If you are a true competitor…. do you accept the challenge? (Bringing in Zaire) is just another challenge to him. He is a guy that is ready to go do this.
• Being above average isn’t something we believe in here.
• Do you have an SEC culture here? Yeah, we do, I believe that. We are okay and we are more than okay, we are pretty darn good.
• How even is the quarterback competition heading into camp? “It’s even.”
• How long will the competition go? “I haven’t put a deadline on it.”
• On playing only Power 5 opponents (as Nick Saban suggested): I think it’s good, I do. I think it’s what people want… No one from the NCAA has called me and asked my opinion.
• Team leaders heading into the season? We’ll find out, sometimes leadership scares people. I need to see it through actions. We don’t have the Alpha Dog like we had in Jarrad Davis.

Michael Wayne Bratton

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