Florida Football: 5 bold predictions for the 2017 season

3. Malik Zaire will score more rushing touchdowns then passing touchdowns

After deciding to leave Notre Dame after the 2016 college football season, many Gators fans assumed that Malik Zaire transferred to Florida in-order to become the team’s new starting quarterback.

After suffering through a season of mediocre  quarterback play from Purdue transfer Austin Appleby and Oregon State transfer Luke Del Rio, the Gator faithful welcomed a change to a more dual-threat quarterback in 2017, even if it came in the form of another transfer. That was at least until Aug. 30, when coach Jim McElwain named redshirt freshman Feleipe Franks the Gators starting quarterback.

While this is surely an unfortunate situation for Zaire, who struggled to find consistent playing time at Notre Dame, it might not be all bad for the graduate transfer.

Coach McElwain has already stated that he intends to play more than one quarterback in any given game, so Zaire could find himself in a similar position to that of Tim Tebow when he first arrived in Gainesville.

Feleipe Franks definitely offers upside as a prototypical pro-style pocket passer that Zaire does not, but his athleticism doesn’t hold a candle to the Fighting Irish transfer.

While Zaire hasn’t been able to show off his passing abilities consistently thus-far in his college playing career, he has found success as a runner. Having a mobile, duel-threat quarterback in short yardage and red zone situations definitely gives a team an advantage, and for the Gators, Malik Zaire could fill that role.

Zaire could be inserted into the game in specific packages that optimize his playing style. That wrinkle would give the Gators a different look from the vertical passing scheme the team will surely employ with Franks.

Definitely look out for Zaire’s inclusion on goal line plays, where his dynamic running abilities could insure easy read-option touchdowns.