Florida Football: 5 reasons the Malik Zaire era may never begin
By Ryan McNeill
2. Other competition
Okay, so if Malik Zaire isn’t Florida’s starting quarterback, then who should be?
The incumbent at this point in time appears to be Luke Del Rio. The Junior quarterback played in six games last season and posted solid stats with QB Rating of 118.6. He only completed 56.7% of his passes and averaged just 201 yards per game. Solid numbers, but not flashy and McElwain likely isn’t content with average numbers for his quarterback.
The only other quarterback to take a snap in Florida’s offense last season was senior Justin Appleby who has since graduated.
So, in many respects, the starting gig should come down to a battle between Zaire and Del Rio. Should is the key word.
Don’t sleep on incoming freshman Kadarius Toney. Toney was the 24th-best quarterback of his class and he has the kind of running speed the Zaire may have lost.
If Florida is going to build a program, why waste snaps on Zaire who will be out of eligibility after this season. Investing snaps and playing time in Toney may be wiser as he could grow into an elite quarterback for Florida.
I know it goes against popular sentiment, but I’d like to see Toney have a legit chance to earn the starting job this season.