As Feleipe Franks took to the lectern to face reporters and cameras, one question stumped him.
“Are you more uplifted by the deep ball to (Josh) Hammond,” he was asked, “or more frustrated with missing (Jordan) Scarlett in the flat?”
The question was referencing Franks’ 46-yard pass to Hammond on his first drive and an overthrow in the second quarter of Florida’s Spring game Friday night.
Franks smiled and looked beside him, unsure how to respond.
“Funny,” he said. “You know, I think overall the offense played well.”
Though UF’s frontrunner in the quarterback race danced around the question, ultimately praising his offensive line and blaming himself on the misfire to his running back, the question was symbolic of the Gators offense’s current state.
Do they look back on years of ugly, conservative quarterback play and dwindling offensive numbers? Or do they look to the future, which judging after this weekend seems to be in better hands than in past seasons?
Florida didn't rank among the SEC’s top-10 scoring offenses in either 2016 or ’15, but with Franks at the helm of UF’s attack, it may be time to look forward.
After head coach Jim McElwain said the redshirt freshman was the leading candidate to start next season, Franks addressed detractors of Florida’s scoring capabilities.
“I think it motivates every player,” he said. “We try not to listen to what outsiders or people have to say about the offense… I think we can use it as confidence.”
There’s good reason McElwain and Franks are confident.
Florida will return a respectable offensive line that went from dead last in the country in sacks allowed (45) in 2015 to 28 sacks in 2016. Also returning will be a full stable of running backs in Jordan Scarlett, Lamical Perine and Mark Thompson. Then you have big-play threats in receivers Antonio Callaway, Tyrie Cleveland and Brandon Powell among others.
As long as UF isn’t severely bitten by the injury bug, there isn’t any reason it can’t win the SEC East again.
“We’re better,” McElwain said of the offense. “We’re continuing to get there.”
But any hopes of an SEC title rest on Franks’ arm, if he is ultimately deemed the starter in the Fall.
Treon Harris couldn’t do it. Austin Appleby couldn’t either.
Only time will tell if Feleipe Franks falls in the same category.
“We gotta go with who’s gonna give us the best opportunity to win ball games,” McElwain said. “And at the end of the day, that’s what we’ve got to do is win ball games. And we’ve won a couple since we’ve been here, and we just gotta win more.”
Contact Patrick Pinak at ppinak@alligator.org or follow him on Twitter @pinakk12.
UF quarterback Feleipe Franks during Florida's Spring game on Friday night at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
