Franks ready to make impact after beneficial redshirt year
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When Florida managed to flip Feleipe Franks, a Rivals100 quarterback in the 2016 class previously committed to LSU, in November of 2015, many envisioned Franks as a signal-caller who could potentially see the field right away if Luke Del Rio wasn’t the answer.
However, Florida turned to its veteran options at quarterback in 2016 and opted to redshirt its two freshmen, Franks and fellow 2016 signee Kyle Trask. Once Purdue graduate transfer Austin Appleby landed in Gainesville for the spring semester, the Gators looked to Del Rio and Appleby to run the first- and second-string offenses while Franks and Trask developed in the wings.
For Franks, a redshirt year turned out to be beneficial.
Throughout spring practices as an early enrollee, the 6-foot-6, 219-pound Franks looked like a raw product. Although he has a cannon of an arm and a nice touch on plenty of his throws, his throwing motion needed to tighten and his footwork also wasn’t refined – and at times, he looked antsy and not too comfortable running the offense.
In his first Orange and Blue Debut, Franks had a shaky outing, throwing three interceptions including a pick-six to defensive back Duke Dawson. Franks would lead a touchdown drive on the final series of the game, but the spring game ultimately showed that Franks had some work to do.
“I think the biggest thing there is just understanding that it doesn’t happen automatically, you know?” Florida head coach Jim McElwain said. “That there’s a learning curve, and there’s a lot that can be learned from when things don’t go well and how do you deal with that. But more than that, how do I learn from it to get myself out of it to get better? And I’ve seen that from him.”
By the fall, Franks showed real signs of improvements. He tightened his throwing motion, as his wind-up isn’t nearly as long as it once was. His leadership in the huddle and understanding of the offensive playbook have also improved, by the accounts of many.
“I feel a lot more confident in what I do,” Franks said after the SEC Championship Game in December. “With the guys that are ahead of me, you can learn a lot from them. Just guys who have already been there, had a lot of experience in the games. I think just sitting back a year, I’ve learned a lot just from the little things, just like how to learn a playbook, to even the bigger things like how to play the game at the quarterback position in this league. So I think that helped me out a lot this year.
"They did a great job of just mentoring and tutoring me in everything I do, how I carry myself and things like that.”
Many of Franks’ teammates also noticed the strides he made in practices, including former Florida wide receiver Ahmad Fulwood.
“Controlling his mistakes. When you come in at first, you want to just make big plays all the time,” Fulwood said of Franks. “When he realized every throw doesn’t have to be an 80-yard bomb and he started making the right reads and started making less mistakes, that was when you could see he was really improving as a quarterback.”
Once Del Rio went down against North Texas with a sprained MCL in his knee, Florida turned to Appleby as the starter but had Franks, rather than Trask, working with the 2’s in practices. That once again turned out to be the case later on in the year, when Del Rio missed the final five games of 2016 with a shoulder injury. However, neither Franks nor Trask would see any playing time last year.
This spring, however, both Franks and Trask are seeing plenty of snaps, with Appleby graduated, Del Rio sidelined after shoulder surgery and 2017 signee Jake Allen not arriving until the summer. On Tuesday, Franks received the first snap with the first-team offense in 11-on-11 fastball, ending the drill with a well-placed deep pass to Tyrie Cleveland for a touchdown.
“You're talking about a guy, ultra-talented,” offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier said of Franks. “(He) came in and we threw a lot him early and he's really, really learned how to prepare and how to take the offense and take the tools we're giving him and now apply him to the field."
If Franks can hold off Trask and 2017 signee Kadarius Toney this spring - and Del Rio and Allen when both are available in fall training camp – he could end up being the Gators’ starter under center when Florida travels to Dallas to square off against Michigan in the season-opener on Sept. 2. However, with Trask still close behind, it’ll be a race worth following through the rest of the offseason.
Still, Florida fans have to feel encouraged with the progress Franks has made in a year’s time.
“I say from when he first got here, he didn't want to take care of the ball as much, he didn't realize college football is a lot faster,” running back Jordan Scarlett said. “But now he's making more smarter decisions with the football, and I like it."
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2016 SIGNEE REDSHIRT REPORTS:
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