Tramell Jones Jr. surprisingly shines for Florida, outplaying expectations and potentially snatching the starting QB role from favored Aaron Philo after spring drills.
New Florida head coach Jon Sumrall wouldn't name a frontrunner for the starting quarterback job after spring football ended last week.
Sumrall suggested one player stood out this spring, but he would not reveal if Aaron Philo or Tramell Jones Jr. had the better performance during the team's 15 spring practices.
Florida wasn't going to pick a starter after the Orange and Blue game. The Gators want to see how Philo and Jones play during training camp this summer.
With that being said, Paul Myerberg of USA Today reported that Jones did a better job of taking care of the football this spring and played better than Philo in the final scrimmage.
"New head coach Jon Sumrall has said this competition will extend into fall camp even if Philo seems to be the favorite," Meyerberg wrote.
"He has the edge in experience after making more than 100 attempts across two years at Georgia Tech and has a deeper familiarity with the Gators’ offense under coordinator Buster Faulkner, who held the same position with the Yellow Jackets.
"Yet Jones outplayed Philo in the final scrimmage and did a better job during the spring of protecting the football."
It's a surprise that Jones had the better spring, as many in the national media projected Philo as the starting quarterback for the fall because of the experience he had running Faulkner's offense at Georgia Tech.
After the Orange and Blue Game, Sumrall told reporters that both quarterback showed good things this spring, but thinks one quarterback has the edge before training camp.
"But both guys have done some good things," Sumrall said. "I think that room’s done good things as a whole. I’ll sit down with all those guys on Monday and have a really transparent conversation about, 'Hey, after 15 practices, this is where we are.'
"I'll talk to them about, 'Hey, if we had to play a game next week, this is probably what it would look like.' I won’t make an announcement because we don’t play here next week... So nothing’s decided yet."
Philo can still win the job this summer, but it appears Jones might have the upper hand after the spring.