Florida may have stumbled into one of the few quarterback setups that actually makes sense in the modern portal-and-NIL world.
That’s the takeaway from a report UF beat writer Zack Alboverdi shared on his podcast earlier this week, where he said the Florida staff believes its starters in all three phases are “good enough to compete with everybody that they’re going to play”, even if the roster “don’t have the depth across the board” that some opponents do.
That split view fits the reality of how this roster was built. Florida turned over a huge chunk of last year’s team, and when that much changes in one cycle, elite depth is almost impossible to manufacture.
With rev share and NIL budgets still forcing schools to make choices, even the biggest spenders can’t just buy a full roster through the portal. High school recruiting still has to be part of the equation, the same way pro teams can’t build entirely through free agency.
The interesting part is the first half of that evaluation. If the Gators really do have starters who can line up with anybody, that puts a first-year head coach in a pretty useful spot. You may not be able to survive every week without depth, but you’re at least walking into Saturdays with a chance in every game.
Of course, Jon Sumrall and his staff might still be wrong in how they’re reading the roster. This is Sumrall’s first time running a Power 4 program, and even with assistants who’ve been around that level, preseason judgment is still just that - judgment. Camp will tell them more, and the games will tell the rest.
But if the staff’s read is right, Florida has something pretty unusual for this era: a quarterback room where the top two options are both considered playable.
Sumrall said this summer that he thinks the team can win with either Aaron Philo or Tramell Jones at quarterback. He was also blunt that neither is a Heisman candidate.
The point wasn’t that both are stars. It was that neither should be a liability.
That’s a lot harder to find than it used to be. If a team has a clear starter, the backup often wants out for a chance to play somewhere else.
If a team doesn’t have a clear starter, it usually means nobody trustworthy is in the room. Florida’s situation is different.
Philo followed his offensive coordinator to a new stop, which has become a fairly normal move in this era. Jones is the unusual piece.
He stayed because he’s a Jacksonville native and lifelong Gator, and the team’s belief in him from the previous year carried enough weight that players pushed for him with the new head coach. Sumrall listened, gave Jones a shot, and now that decision looks like a smart one.
That matters because quarterback health is never something you can bank on. Blind-side pressure, collapsing pockets, and all the physical wear that comes with the position make it one of the easiest spots on the field to lose for a stretch.
Florida hasn’t had many seasons lately where the same quarterback started every game and stayed healthy enough to keep doing it. If bowl opt-outs are excluded, the last one was Anthony Richardson in 2022, and even he wasn’t close to 100 percent all year.
Dan Mullen got full seasons from Kyle Trask in 2020 and Feleipe Franks in 2018, but before that you have to go all the way back to Tim Tebow. That’s only three seasons in the last 16 with one quarterback starting every game because he was healthy and effective enough to hold the job.
There’s also a chance Florida could open the 2026 season with both quarterbacks getting live reps before the staff settles on a more permanent answer. One possibility would be starting one quarterback in Week 1 against FAU and the other in Week 2 against FCS Campbell before heading to Auburn in Week 3. Nothing has been announced, but it’s the kind of arrangement other teams have used.
Even if that doesn’t happen, the more likely outcome is still some kind of change at the position over the course of the season. Whoever wins the job first probably won’t hold it every week, whether because of injury or because the competition shifts.
That’s why Florida’s current setup stands out. In a year when so many teams are trying to patch together a quarterback room, the Gators may have two guys they trust.
That’s not common. And right now, it’s a pretty good place to be.
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Former Gator Ricky Pearsall Faces Another Brutal NFL Setback
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San Francisco general manager John Lynch confirmed the procedure, underscoring how serious the setback has become for a player the 49ers still view as part of their future. The immediate picture is bleak, with another season wiped out before it starts, but the club is at least holding onto the hope that Pearsall can get back on the field in 2027. [Read more 🡒]