Among the talent lost for the Florida Gators from a season ago is quarterback Kyle Trask as he heads to the NFL draft after a big season in Gainesville.
Trask was a big reason why Florida found success on offense, despite not reaching their ultimate goal a year ago. The quarterback threw for 4,283 yards, 43 touchdowns and just 8 interceptions. To replace that production is going to be very tough for Dan Mullen to do so.
But that’s the task ahead and at least one publication thinks that the future of the quarterback position is in good shape for the Gators.
ESPN released their ranking of 25 programs that are in the best shape at the quarterback position for the next three seasons. Oklahoma, Clemson and USC made up the top three teams on the list but you won’t have to go far to find the Gators as they check in at No. 8 beginning with next year’s projected starter Emory Jones.
Here is what ESPN had to say about the Gators and their quarterback situation:
There are few guarantees in college quarterback play, but Mullen’s success with player development is pretty close to a sure thing. Kyle Trask, who did little in his first three seasons in Gainesville before becoming a Heisman finalist in 2020, is just the latest quarterback to blossom under Mullen’s watch. Trask is gone, and Emory Jones, Mullen’s first quarterback recruit at UF, will have the best chance to start this fall and possibly in 2022. Jones has 613 career passing yards and seven touchdowns, as well as 514 rushing yards and seven touchdowns, providing Florida more of a true dual threat. A mini concern with him is accuracy, as his completion percentage has dropped each year despite limited overall action (86 career attempts).
Florida has some insurance with Anthony Richardson, a Gainesville native and ESPN 300 recruit in the 2020 class who played in four games as a true freshman. The Gators also signed two 2021 quarterbacks in Carlos Del Rio-Wilson, ESPN’s No. 58 overall player in the class, and four-star Jalen Kitna. Both have enrolled early and will play this spring.
While Florida likely won’t get the production they saw last season from Trask, the quarterback situation isn’t all that bad. It is, however, the most important key for them if they want to be successful next season.
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