Florida Football: Gators shouldn’t quit on Feleipe Franks

Feleipe Franks looked abysmal in his debut as the Gators’ starer against the Michigan Wolverines. Florida football needs to stick with freshman quarterback.

More: What did we learn from the Michigan vs. Florida result?

Feleipe Franks had a terrible debut as the starting Quarterback at Florida. The Gators never got any offense going scoring both of their touchdowns on defense. Franks was even pulled for grad transfer Malik Zaire.

That’s a long of doom and gloom, but it’s not time do despair yet. Here are three reasons Gator fans can’t quit on Franks and neither should coach Jim McElwain.

1. Suspensions of Callaway and Scarlett

Sure, Franks sputtered, but he didn’t have the firepower the Gators should have at his disposal. Super-athlete Antonio Callaway was suspended with nine other Gators. Callaway has 1,300+ receiving yards and seven touchdowns in two seasons. 2017 was expected to be his breakout year.

Running Back Jordan Scarlett was also suspended. Scarlett had 889 rushing yards and six touchdowns in 2016. Receivers Rick Wells and James Robinson were also suspended, as was offensive lineman Kadeem Telfort. Losing playmakers and an offensive lineman on an offense that hasn’t been able to make plays for almost a decade is a tough situation to put on a new quarterback.

All of the work a quarterback does in the spring, summer, and fall camp getting timing and communication down becomes wasted time when players are suspended. Franks also missed out by splitting reps with Malik Zaire and Luke Del Rio for parts of spring and camp. Coaches want their starting quarterback to have a sixth sense or almost ESP with their receivers. You can’t get that established if your skill players aren’t on the field.