Gators QB Emory Jones Labeled 2021 Preseason All-SEC 3rd Team by PFF

Pro Football Focus name Florida Gators quarterback Emory Jones to their Preseason All-SEC third team. Is this a reasonable expectation for the first year starter or should the Gators expect more?

Is Emory Jones QB3 in the SEC? PFF thinks so.

Entering into the month of July, the college football world has seen a drastic shift. With NIL now in full effect, the main focus lies on the deals college athletes can now orchestrate for compensation going forward.

However, what July also brings is the commencement of preseason workouts and implementation of the playbook on both sides of football.

With the turning of the guard at the quarterback position resulting in a vastly different offensive scheme, the preseason sits paramount for the Florida Gators success in 2021. 

Simultaneously, for those on the outside looking in at the program, setting reasonable expectations for the Gators redshirt junior signal-caller in Jones sits as a daunting task.

On Wednesday, Pro Football Focus tried their luck at predicting the level at which Jones would perform in 2021. Listed behind Ole Miss’ Matt Corral and LSU’s Myles Brennan, Jones was selected by PFF as the third team quarterback for All-SEC preseason honors.

Matt Corral: Preseason All-SEC QB1 🏆 pic.twitter.com/gFIFXKcwtj

— PFF College (@PFF_College) June 29, 2021

Corral, a former Gators commit who was replaced by Jones in the 2018 recruiting class, shined in head coach Lane Kiffin’s first year at Ole Miss last season.

Despite struggling with inconsistency and turnovers at points — an area of his game Kiffin has been critical of this offseason — Corral’s 3,337 yards and 29 touchdowns (both ranking 7th best in the NCAA) in 2020 slates him as a worthy first selection in an explosive offensive scheme.

Meanwhile, Brennan comes in at second team with little experience under hit belt — missing a majority of the 2020 season due to injury — and an efficient passer in 2020 Max Johnson on his heels for the Tigers starting job.

Making the decision to rank Brennan as the second best the SEC has to offer — over a three-year groomed starter like Jones — in an offense that has lost considerable amounts of its production from last season and since their historic championship season in 2019 presents serious questions marks for why Jones isn’t higher.

Despite his placement on this preseason totem pole, Jones’ ceiling is higher than QB3 in the SEC in the long run, given his dual-threat talents and the luxury of Dan Mullen’s offense putting him in a position to succeed.

Namely, Jones will have the opportunity to play in his comfort zone for most snaps while in orange and blue.

Operating in a fashion that highlights his strengths of designed quarterback runs and play-action deep balls — that have been thrown with considerable zip and accuracy in the limited attempts he’s taken at UF — Jones will be put in a situation to make game-changing plays on his feet or through the air with high frequency.

Talent alone should have him ranked in the top five of SEC quarterbacks following the season. To reach higher than that, improving the consistency on short to intermediate passes will be needed from what has been shown in the past, a possible fix being rhythm he will find as the undisputed number one man behind center.

As for now, making SEC third-team is reachable individual goal for the Gators quarterback in his first year as a full-time starter.

However, if he is able to prove his worth in the head-to-head quarterbacks matchups against Bryce Young and Alabama as well as JT Daniels and Georgia (who both failed to grace PFFs preseason honors list) and lead the Gators to a commendable record in 2021, Jones will be highly regarded not just in the SEC, but the NCAA overall.