Florida Football: 5 things to watch during 2019 spring game

1. Feleipe Franks’ improvements

That the fanbase and those inside the program are confident that Feleipe Franks is the answer at quarterback comes as both a shocking about-face and a relief. Franks laid an excellent foundation from which to build in the final four games of last season, and now the staff hopes to hone a few important aspects of his game – including accuracy, decision making and ball carrying.

The word coming out of spring is that Franks has become more of a confident verbal leader mixing it up with defenders at practice and digging into offensive teammates when needed. His play is also improving.

Last year, Franks struggled with accuracy especially on down-field throws. This spring, he’s flashed new-found precision in the practices open to the media. Increased comfort in the offensive scheme contributes to his improvement, but accuracy is something Franks is constantly working to improve.

When addressing the topic, Franks said, “I feel like I’ve gotten better with accuracy, giving the receivers a chance to make a play on the ball, not overthrowing and throwing the ball out of bounds, always just giving them a 50-50 chance.”

Franks proved to be a willing running toward the end of last season, something Mullen stresses. But to take the next step, Franks needs to become a more effective runner. Ball security needs to improve and learning decisively run downhill instead of sideline-to-sideline wouldn’t hurt. A good sign for Gators? Franks is growing in those categories and has tapped into an angry streak when running the football.

The spring game provides second-year-in-Mullen’s-system Feleipe Franks a training wheel game to play freely and gain some early confidence. Expect to see the Gator quarterback air the ball out a few times and maybe score a few hard-nosed touchdown runs.