Tuesday's Take: Emory Jones is Next Year's Quarterback

It is the best time of the week: Tuesday's Take. Graham Marsh provides you with his caffeinated, spiciest take on the Florida Gators.

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Editor’s note: “Tuesday’s Take” is Sports Illustrated - GatorMaven author Graham Marsh’s weekly column.

The rumors had already started. Ohio State commit Emory Jones was most likely not going to stick with the Buckeyes on National Signing Day on Dec. 20, 2017. Then-Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer was straight up with the Franklin, Georgia, prospect. 

And Jones was not blind, either. OSU's QB room at the time was full, and that was before the arrival of current starter Justin Fields. Joe Burrow and Dwayne Haskins were both there ready to compete for the starting gig. Tate Martell was a 5-star in high school who at the time, everyone thought could be a future sensation. 

So, realistically, Jones knew it would be three or maybe even four years before he had a legitimate shot to be the main signal caller in Columbus, Ohio. So, Meyer told his commit that if he doesn't stick with the Buckeyes, he should go develop under Meyer's old offensive coordinator and current Florida head coach Dan Mullen. 

So, Heard County's Quarterback put on the orange and blue hat instead of the red and silver one. He was a Gator. And if everything went according to plan, he was the future in Gainesville.

That was 432 days ago. Now, with the season-ending injury to Feleipe Franks, Jones sits snugly at the backup quarterback role to current starter Kyle Trask. We have all watched Trask plenty now, and we know what he is. 

Trask is an accurate passer, especially 15 yards and in. Trask is a smart decision maker. Trask is a guy that a coach can trust with essentially the whole playbook, he is a better, classier version of Luke Del Rio. 

But, his ceiling is not incredibly high. As solid as Trask has been, there is not that one incredibly special thing that he does. When Franks was still in, as sporadic as he was, he would just wow you occasionally with an NFL-caliber throw. His arm's raw ability is unquestionably special; plus his shear size will always attract coaches. 

Then, you have Jones. He may be underwhelming in stature, standing at 6 foot 2 and weighing 195 pounds. But, he has game-changing speed. Also, if you have watched him in the limited action he has gotten to play, his arm is impressive.

He throws a beautiful deep ball and makes good reads. If you disagree, just watch the one drive against Auburn where he got to captain the ship after Trask briefly went down with a knee injury. Jones went 5-7 in that drive for 28 yards and ran for 13 more on his way to a 105 rating to get Florida an Evan McPherson field goal at a time in the game where any points at all were tough to come by. 

All of this to say, Mullen should finish out this season with Trask as the starter. As much as I don't like the argument of "he's earned it," Trask has earned it in every sense. He has come in and played good football. Every game up to this point that UF would have been projected to win without Franks getting hurt, Trask still won, and many of those in convincing fashion. 

However, the LSU game, and the Georgia game especially, have proven the limit to Trask at the helm. He is almost impressively slow in the pocket. Even a perfectly drawn up QB run won't allow him to get more than 5-6 yards at any given time. 

So when next year begins, I truly believe that Mullen will, and should, have the kid from Georgia be his QB. It will have been two full seasons. He has been groomed for this. He is ready. 

Not only is he ready, but look at how Florida's offense is going to be next season. From a personnel perspective, the offense is going to make more sense for Jones anyway. The incredibly deep wide receiver room from this year is losing Van Jefferson, Freddie Swain, Josh Hammond and possibly Trevon Grimes, should he declare for the NFL Draft a year early.

The WR room will have less, and the offensive line will have more. The struggling group of this season will have another year of experience. Plus, the true freshman talent of this season like Ethan White and Michael Tarquin will be ready to play, adding much-needed depth to John Hevesy's group. 

That means that next year's team should go back to being a more run-heavy offense. It fits Jones so much better. The only way UF takes the necessary step forward to becoming an elite program is with quick legs behind center.

The speed of Jones gives UF a chance to perhaps elevate to the next echelon of team that fans, players and coaches alike so badly want to get to. 2018 and 2019 have been excellent years for Florida and excellent years to start Mullen's tenure, but the goal is not New Year's Six bowls. The goal is SEC and National Championships. 

Jones gives you that chance. He was Mullen's first quarterback recruit and fits the system of a Mullen spread offense by far the best. Mullen's offense works best when there is an elite running threat that catches the snaps. That is Jones. 

Florida right now is in the second tier of college football. The Gators are in the class of other conference runner ups like Penn State and Texas. We know Mullen wants to become more comparable to the Oklahoma's, the Ohio State's and the Alabama's of the world, and we think he can get there. 

But it won't happen until he has his guy running the show behind center. It won't happen until he finally has that special, Tim Tebow-like talent in the game on a regular basis.