There is a common adage amongst football fans, “if you have two quarterbacks (that you can’t decide whom should start), you have no quarterback.”
Well, what happens if you have three like the Florida Gators may?
Jim McElwain laid out that exact scenario Wednesday.Jim McElwain emphatically stated that the lack of an announcement at the quarterback position wasn’t a mind game (lol, of course at least part of it is), but it was that each brought something different to the table. “I think there’s some things they all bring to the table that’s really good,” McElwain stated. “The key to us is putting them in those positions that play to their strengths.”
Jesse Palmer, former Florida Gators quarterback who oft shared quarterback responsibilities, said back in 2015 around this time, “It’s getting to that critical juncture of the season where a lot of coaching staffs are going to have to make a decision for continuity purposes on offense and to ensure the highest level of performance by whoever is lining up under center. It’s such a hard position to play, when you’re playing it defensively, when you’re playing it not to make a mistake. You can’t be careless playing the position but certainly you have to play the position with conviction. You have to make decisions, you have to be able to throw the football with conviction, believing if you make a mistake especially early in the game you’re not going to get pulled.”
But can Florida buck the saying and play, not one, not two, but three quarterbacks and be successful?
Potentially, but that all depends on how they are used.
Last season, there were a few major issues at the quarterback position that hindered their performance and ultimately, led to poor performance throughout most of the season.
Primarily, the Gators got sacked too frequently. On passing downs, the Gators were sacked 10.1% of the time and Luke Del Rio, alone, was sacked 8.7% of the plays he attempted a passing play. Sacks are a tough thing to simply point blame at just the quarterback, but could a more mobile quarterback help solve the problem? Maybe.
They also struggled with “percentage of plays that resulted in a touchdown or first down”, ranking 112th in the country with a rate of just 28.89%. Could a quarterback that is more mobile help? Sure. But looking past that number, we need to look at offensive explosiveness (plays more than 20 yards), and the Gators ranked 110th. Those two stats are coupled because you can gain a lot of yards and not gain a lot of first downs if you have explosive plays. Ergo, a mixture of passing and running out of a quarterback would be good, but a preference would go to passing – since more than 70% of Gators explosive plays came through the air.
Further, the Gators ranked 102nd in interceptions thrown, so protecting the ball will be important here. Malik Zaire, nor Feleipe Franks I guess, have never thrown an interception, while six of Del Rio’s eight interceptions last season game after he was hurried back from injury, so is that fair to penalize him for that?
Moreover, the Gators were slow calling plays, ranking 109th in the country in seconds per play call at 28.25 seconds, and ending the season 110th in the country in total offensive plays. So familiarity of the playbook will be important in hurrying calls to the line of scrimmage – Del Rio was faster than Appleby last season. Do Del Rio’s two years and Franks one year on campus help with comfort of speeding up the offense?
And finally, leading a system that allows for an increase in yards (116th), touchdowns (122nd), first downs (115th), red zone offense (126th), and scoring (107th).
What we know, and it’s not much, is the following:
- We know Luke Del Rio has a very strong understanding of the game, of the playbook, and that he has improved his arm strength to at least pre-injury form. We also know that he is not mobile and that he has a high rate of turnovers.
- We know that Malik Zaire is mobile, but has iffy arm strength. We know that he is liked a lot by his teammates and is a good leader. We know that he has never thrown an interception. We know that he has had the playbook for half a year, but is still learning the playbook and timing with his receivers.
- We know that Feleipe Franks has the raw tools and that he has really stepped up this offseason as a player and leader. He has great arm strength and is relatively mobile. He is the youngest of the three and has never played in a game in college.
Therefore, “Dan, how can all three potentially play and have packages against Michigan?”, you may ask. Well, I think the answer is: because it’s Michigan. If Florida was playing Northern Colorado in week one, I think they would pick a starter – and I believe that would be Feleipe Franks. There would be less pressure than starting against Michigan and Florida could experiment with the young quarterback. However, because it is Michigan, I think the following could happen.
Luke Del Rio could be your starter and set the tone at the beginning of the game, sprinkling in Malik Zaire on a few designed packages. Del Rio, while not the prohibitive fan favorite, has the most experience under the bright lights and has the most experience throwing to this group of wide receivers. Setting a tone early will be important for Florida. I see Malik Zaire having packages, including a number of hand-offs and designed passes so that Michigan is kept on their toes rather than just assuming designed run packages.
I see Feleipe Franks come in either: if the first few drives stall out and Florida is looking for a spark or in a mid-field situation, allowing Franks an opportunity to gain yards and experience, while not asking him to drive 80 yards for example, or thread the needle in the redzone. I would also expect to see him in the second half.
This situation could also be reverse with Franks starting with Zaire relief, and Del Rio playing rescue.
No matter how the saying goes, Florida will likely play three quarterbacks next Saturday. But that may not be a bad thing because Florida has a lot to fix – and each may have an important role in doing so.