Life after Feleipe Franks: How good can Florida be with Kyle Trask?

Feleipe Franks is out for the year and Florida must go forward with Kyle Trask, but how far can he take the Gators?

It was far from pretty, but the Florida Gators found a way to get it done in Lexington. Despite being largely outplayed for nearly the entire contest, Florida outscored the Kentucky Wildcats 19-0 in the final frame to defeat a pesky SEC East foe in their stadium to improve to 3-0 on the young college football season.

Florida was ranked No. 9 in the nation heading into their Week 3 affair in the Bluegrass State this past Saturday. While the Gators were able to knock off Kentucky backup Sawyer Smith’s squad in primetime, Florida joined the Wildcats in losing their starting quarterback for the season in September.

Redshirt junior Feleipe Franks suffered a season-ending gruesome leg injury on Saturday night, as Kentucky senior defensive end Calvin Taylor Jr. rolled up on his ankle while making a sack from behind. Franks suffered a fracture in his lower leg and dislocated his ankle.

It’s tough to see a talented quarterback go down like that, but the Gators have to turn the page to keep their perfect season intact. Redshirt junior Kyle Trask came in and helped lead the Gators to a 29-21 victory over the Wildcats. It’ll be up to Trask or redshirt freshman Emory Jones to keep Florida afloat in Franks’ extended absence.

‘Kyle’s has a little more touch on it than Feleipe’s.” – Florida WR Josh Hammond comparing Trask’s passes to Franks’

Franks had been the Gators’ starting quarterback since 2017, playing first for former head coach Jim McElwain and now under Mullen in his second year in Gainesville. Although the talent is certainly there, the consistency as a passer and the on-field maturity haven’t always been there with Franks.

Franks did get a bit animated with the fans during the Gators’ Week 0 victory over the rival Miami Hurricanes down in Orlando. That sort of behavior and the uncertainty of what Gator Nation was getting out of him every week was starting to grow old. Now it’s Trask’s task to get the Gators back to Atlanta for the first time in three years.

Trask completed nine of 13 passes for 126 yards and a four-yard rushing touchdown to help lead Florida to victory. He averaged a strong 9.7 yards per attempt and boasted a QBR of 86.1, a significantly better mark than Franks’ 52.0 before he had to be carted off Kroger Field.

Before coming in relief of Franks, Trask had only played in four games with the Gators up to that point. The Manvel, Texas native appeared in four games last year as Franks’ backup before suffering a season-ending foot injury of his own versus the Missouri Tigers. Entering 2019, Trask had completed 63.6 percent of his passes for 162 yards, a touchdown and that’s it.

Though not as potentially dynamic as Jones or as experienced as Franks, that’s not to say that the Gators don’t think highly of their new starting quarterback. Florida wide receiver Josh Hammond said in Monday’s media availability that Trask has a little more touch on his passes than Franks.

Precision passing hasn’t been Florida’s forte since the Tim Tebow days of the last decade. Hammond has nine catches for 129 and a 76-yard touchdown run versus Kentucky on the season. He looks to be an explosive playmaker hiding in plain sight. Let’s see if Trask can get him the ball.

Trask has been praised by his teammates and his coaches for his decision making, something that has often plagued Franks for the last two years and change. “I feel like he is ready. We believe in him,” said Florida senior linebacker David Reese, fresh off his SEC Defensive Player of the Week performance against Kentucky. Reese had 16 tackles, 13 of them solo versus the Wildcats.

So from the early looks of it, upperclassmen on both sides of the ball have confidence that Trask can get it done for the Gators as he takes over for the injured Franks in Week 4.

Florida should be 5-0 heading into their Oct. 5 home game versus the No. 8 Auburn Tigers. Look for the Gators to figure out what works and what doesn’t for Trask in this offense versus the hapless Tennessee Volunteers this week and the FCS Towson Tigers next week.

So it feels pretty safe to say that Trask will have two victories under his belt by the time Auburn comes to town. That’ll be a huge interdivisional SEC matchup, but one with limited starting experience at quarterback. Keep in mind that Auburn is starting a true freshman in Bo Nix. Even though he defeated the Oregon Ducks on a neutral site, AT&T Stadium isn’t The Swamp.

“I feel like he is ready. We believe in him.” – Florida LB David Reese on Trask replacing Franks.

That game versus Auburn will tell us a lot about where these two programs stand in the SEC hierarchy. Though both are in the top 10 nationally, neither looks to be the best team in their division. Auburn has both the Alabama Crimson Tide and the LSU Tigers ahead of them in the West, while Florida is looking up at the Georgia Bulldogs for the third year in a row in the East.

But should Trask slip up at home versus Auburn, Mullen does have a blue-chip prospect waiting in the wing in Jones. Mullen does plan to use both at various points this season. Jones was one of the first bigtime recruits Mullen landed after he left Mississippi State. One would think that with the transfer portal being en vogue that Jones may leave if he doesn’t get to play much this year.

Don’t let the small sample size fool you; Jones can play. He has completed 65 percent of his passes in Florida uniform and is averaging 7.8 yards per rushing attempt this season. So if Trask can’t hang with the best the SEC has to offer, perhaps going with the dual-threat playmaking ability in Jones is the way to go?

Regardless of how this potential dual-quarterback system might shake out, we are presented with more questions than answers when it comes to the Florida offense with Franks out of the picture for the time being.

What is Florida’s ceiling with Trask and will he eventually be usurped by Jones on the Gators quarterbacking depth chart? How will this change of guard at quarterback impact the offense and should we assume a greater emphasis on the running game going forward? Let’s start by figuring out where the ceiling is at first.

With Trask under center, we’re looking at a 9-3, maybe even a 10-2 team. Getting Auburn, LSU and Georgia all within a month of each other feel like two losses. Winning more than one of those would be a huge plus for the Gators. Florida can remain a top-25 team, but will probably be on the outside looking in at a New Year’s Six Bowl with how tough the middle of its schedule is.

Does the ceiling change if Jones beats out Trask in the coming weeks? Maybe, but not enough to make the Gators a championship contender this year. Jones would give the Gators a slightly higher ceiling offensively, but again, those four weeks mid-season are brutal. Maybe there is a snowball’s chance that Florida gets to 11-1 and plays in Atlanta by beating Georgia down in Jacksonville?

So no, going with a different quarterback over Franks doesn’t raise or lower Florida’s ceiling all that much for the time being. Of course, we’ll know so much more after the Auburn. Until then, we can only speculate and believe in Mullen’s elite quarterback coaching abilities.

Now let’s try to answer how this change of guard impacts the offensively philosophy for Florida. One would think that the Gators will run the ball more either way. Trask might be the steadiest hand of the three, but might be the most limited athletically. Using the run to open up the pass and play good defense is a recipe for success that could serve Trask under center.

With Jones, expect Mullen to use his legs to extend plays. It’ll be a bit more chaotic than with Trask, but that’s not to say Mullen would be opposed to going in that direction. It hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing with Franks at quarterback with is inherently erratic play.

A run-first offense serves both Trask and Jones, but the receivers would probably like to see Trask succeed since that will likely mean more balls thrown in their direction from the pocket passer, as opposed to the elusive dual-threat of Jones.

To wrap this up, Florida won’t crater with whoever is the new starting quarterback. That sounds weird given the Gators’ poor passing academy since Tebow. However, will only be a good and not great team this year. That being said, perhaps seeing what Trask and Jones have to offer will paint a better picture for Mullen if his Gators can realistically challenge Georgia in 2020.