With SEC Media Days officially in the books, Inside the Gators reflects on the past week with a 3-2-1 report. We provide three observations, present two questions and make one prediction about the Florida football team based on this past week's events.
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* McElwain: Offensive line 'the strength of our football team'
* Gators excited about addition of Zaire to quarterback room
* Notebook: McElwain discusses status of two Gators wideouts
* Inside the Gators' 20/17 for 2017 series
* Austin Appleby Parting Thoughts: I / II / III / IV / V
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Three things we learned:
1. The quarterback competition is still ongoing, but Malik Zaire is getting a lot of love - and recent indications point to him having a pretty good shot at earning the starting quarterback job.
One of the most interesting developments to come out of media days was when McElwain met with a handful of national reporters before his press conference in the main media room. One reporter had tweeted out that McElwain had said that he knows who is starting quarterback is going to be but isn't ready to announce it yet. McElwain later denied he had said that. Some media members shared Robbie Andreu's account, while another writer who was there detailed the interaction differently.
Did McElwain accidentally let it slip out? Or were his words misconstrued?
Regardless, Zaire wouldn't have joined the Gators if he wasn't promised to have a good shot at competing for the starting quarterback job. Redshirt freshman Feleipe Franks exited the spring as the leader in the clubhouse, but the circumstances of Florida opening the season with a talented opponent out of the gate in Michigan may lead to the Gators leaning toward experience over ceiling.
Zaire has appeared in 17 college games and started in three, while every other quarterback on the roster who isn't Zaire or Luke Del Rio hasn't even appeared in a collegiate contest.