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Feleipe Franks to start for Florida Gators on Saturday

The Gators listed him as their starter for Saturday's opener against Charleston Southern.
 
Published Aug. 27, 2018|Updated Aug. 27, 2018

The Florida Gators have listed Feleipe Franks as their starting quarterback.

He's ahead of Kyle Trask on the depth chart, released Monday afternoon, for Saturday's opener against Charleston Southern. That means blue-chip true freshman Emory Jones is the third-string quarterback.

As a redshirt freshman last season, Franks appeared in all 11 games (eight starts) and completed 125 of his 229 passes for 1,438 yards, nine touchdowns and eight interceptions.

The announcement likely means Franks will be the starter for the season. First-year coach Dan Mullen has said he doesn't intend to make quarterback a week-by-week decision; he plans to choose one and go with him for the year.

That one, we learned Monday, is Franks.

"His confidence is really high," receiver Josh Hammond said. "He's been through the worst, and he feels like it's only up from now."

Mullen said Franks' arm strength and ability to extend plays were among the reasons he won the job. What wasn't considered: Franks' experience last year under coach Jim McElwain.

"It was pretty close," Mullen said. "If you go to the grades, they were right there. It was the extra little things of the extending plays, the intangibles."