Feleipe Franks transfers to Arkansas, but will he find success?

Former Florida Gators quarterback Feleipe Franks has opted to transfer to the Arkansas Razorbacks, but will he find success with this downtrodden program?

Feleipe Franks is staying in the SEC but switching divisions.

After breaking his ankle in the Florida Gators’ win over the Kentucky Wildcats, Franks’ redshirt junior season in Gainesville was over. Florida finished as the No. 6 team in the land in 2019, but it was Kyle Trask‘s team now. Franks has opted to transfer to another SEC school to play his last season of college football. He is now with the lowly Arkansas Razorbacks.

Franks shared on his Instagram account on Monday afternoon that he will be wearing No. 13 and playing for first-year head coach Sam Pittman in Fayetteville. Together, they will look to bring back respectability to an Arkansas football program that has lost its way. Franks is a talented quarterback and we know Pittman can recruit, but will they find success on the gridiron in 2020?

Pittman is very familiar with Franks, as he was the former offensive coordinator for Franks’ former archrival in the Georgia Bulldogs. Thus far this offseason, Pittman has landed two great coaches to be his coordinators in former Florida State Seminoles offensive coordinator Kendal Briles to run the offense and former Missouri Tigers head coach Barry Odom to run the defense. That’s a start.

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As for Franks, Pittman knows that he’ll be getting a proven SEC starting quarterback and a guy who has played in a ton of big games in his three previous years in Gainesville. Franks completed 59.0 percent of his passes for 4,593 yards, 38 touchdowns and 17 interceptions with the Gators. Florida won a bunch with Franks as the starting quarterback but never won the SEC East with him.

To put it bluntly, no, there is no chance Arkansas will contend for an SEC West crown. Heck, the Hogs will be lucky if they don’t finish in the basement of the division. That being said, leading Arkansas to a 6-6 (2-6) record is definitely in play. If Franks can get the Hogs to their first bowl game since the 2016 Belk Bowl, then that would be a tremendous accomplishment for the team.

All the while, holding his own against superior SEC competition in a new system might help open some NFL teams’ eyes to drafting Franks in 2021. Sure, there were maturity issues that plagued his tenure in Florida, but that could be a thing of the past. This is a new opportunity for him and one where he can certainly move the needle.

If he can make Arkansas respectable, then transferring there was totally worth it for him. With a proven signal-caller the caliber of Franks, there is almost no way Arkansas goes 0-8 in the SEC again in 2020. He gives Arkansas competence at the quarterback position we haven’t seen since the Allen Brothers.

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