Sure, Feleipe Franks is ahead in Florida’s quarterback race.
But there’s no way you didn’t love what you saw from Kadarius Toney in UF’s spring game Friday night, which begs the question: Is this battle over yet?
There’s a reason this 5-11, 180-pound lightning-quick player is listed as an athlete on the roster. Toney can flat out fly.
And he wasn’t afraid to bring out his bag of tricks.
Early in the fourth quarter, Toney scrambled in the pocket. He juked defenders flying at him from every which direction. Then he drifted toward the sideline. He scanned the end zone, only to squeeze a nine-yard touchdown pass to Tucker Nordman in the end zone.
"That's one of those things that, sometimes playmakers make plays right?” UF coach Jim McElwain said. “You know the old, 'Ah, don't do that—way to go.’”
Toney wasn’t done stealing the show from his quarterback teammates, however.
As time expired in the fourth, Toney shook off a defender’s hand from his shoulder on a read-option play. Then he bolted down the field for a 34-yard gain.
In a 31-0 game, the play was seemingly meaningless. But not to his teammates, who jumped around and celebrated with him.
Toney may have completed just three of five passes for 24 yards, but he was the leading rusher (five runs for 74 yards) in a game that featured Jordan Scarlett, Lamical Perine and Mark Thompson.
“That’s a daily thing,” defensive back Chauncey Gardner said of Toney’s touchdown. “He’s quick, elusive. He’s a running back playing quarterback. And when he’s out there, like coach says, you’ve gotta respect the guy.
It wasn’t just his teammates who took notice. McElwain did as well.
“He's a guy that needs to have the ball in his hands,” he said, mentioning Toney’s arm strength and quick release. “He's a guy that — I'm glad he's a Gator.”
Don’t get me wrong.
I’m not saying Toney is some polished Johnny Manziel-in-his-heyday-type player. McElwain even acknowledged he has a ways to go.
But while the speedster from Eight Mile, Alabama, might not be ahead Franks or Trask at this point, who’s to say he won’t be in the mix come September?
All I’m saying is Toney made plays that Franks and Trask likely can’t, and this race might not be completely over yet.
Take McElwain’s answer when asked if Franks would be the starter in the fall: “We’ll find out over the summer.”
Interesting.
Contact Patrick Pinak at ppinak@alligator.org or follow him Twitter @pinakk12
Quarterback Kadarius Toney evades a defender during Florida's Spring football game on April 7, 2017.
