Four Transfer Fits for Florida Gators QB Emory Jones
Photo: Emory Jones; Credit: Alex Shepherd
The Florida Gators ended their 2021 early signing day not the signature of a high school recruit - those came earlier in the day - but by receiving the news that starting quarterback Emory Jones plans to enter the transfer portal following UF's appearance in the Gasparilla Bowl on Dec. 23.
Jones spent four years at Florida after enrolling as former head coach Dan Mullen's first quarterback recruit to the university. One of the nation's top quarterbacks in the class of 2018, Jones was expected to quickly take the reigns at the position for Florida upon his signing as the Gators had struggled to pass the ball in recent years.
That didn't end up being the case, however. Jones was kept in a backup and rotational role across his first three seasons at UF, as Mullen first opted for Feleipe Franks before the emergence of Kyle Trask as a Heisman Finalist quarterback.
Jones finally earned the starting role at Florida once Trask departed for the NFL, which came with ups and downs. He completed an impressive 67.6 percent of his passes for 2,562 yards and 19 touchdowns in 2021, adding a team-leading 696 rushing yards with four touchdowns on the ground, but committed several costly turnovers en route to 13 interceptions throughout the season.
With Mullen no longer in town and new head coach Billy Napier looking to rebuild the quarterback room, Jones will now look elsewhere to spend the final two years of his college career. He may not be the answer for powerhouse programs at quarterback, but will fit into most offenses that utilize a passer's ability to run the ball.
AllGators has compiled a group of programs that could be interested in what Jones has to offer.
Ole Miss
With Matt Corral off to the NFL Draft, Lane Kiffin will surely look into all of his options to replace his All-SEC gunslinger. Ole Miss has three options at quarterback moving forward without a 2022 signee or transfer in place: Rising redshirt junior Kinkead Dent who has four career passing attempts, rising redshirt freshman Luke Altmyer who offers the most potential of the group, and walk-on Alex Grado.
Altmyer is likely the QB of the future for Ole Miss, unless he puts together a spectacular offseason and earns the starting role in 2022. Jones could serve as a bridge quarterback if Altmyer isn't ready to start, though, and would fit right into Kiffin's offensive scheme.
Jones isn't the polished passer that Corral is but would do well within the scheme considering Kiffin's frequent usage of run-pass options and play-action, a strong aspect of Jones' game. Not to mention, Corral averaged 4.1 yards per run on 145 attempts and posted 11 rushing touchdowns in 2021, which foreshadows run game success for Jones in Ole Miss' offense if he were to join the Rebels.
UCF
Would it be odd to see Jones transfer to UCF immediately after he faces the Knights in the Gasparilla Bowl? No doubt. Would it be unreasonable? Not at all.
From a scheme perspective, Jones' fit at UCF would make total sense. Head coach Gus Malzahn, formerly of Auburn, utilizes the quarterback run game within his offensive scheme and even has a primary rushing QB in-house in Joey Gatewood, who he also coached at Auburn and used similarly at his last stop.
Although Jones could have made better decisions with the ball this past season, he'd logically find more success as a passer in the American Conference against fewer stingy defenses.
This offseason marks the second in a row in which UCF lost a quarterback to the transfer portal, as former starter McKenzie Milton transferred to FSU last December and 2021 starter Dillon Gabriel transferred to UCLA on Thursday. Currently, UCF has true freshman Mikey Keene as its starting quarterback, but the Knights most likely wouldn't pass up on an experienced SEC quarterback to at least compete with Keene in 2022 if not opt for as their starter.
Keep in mind, Malzahn and his Auburn coaching staff recruited Jones thoroughly before he committed to and signed with Florida, meeting with the quarterback three times within five weeks of the 2018 recruiting class' early signing day.
Auburn
After posting a 6-6 record in 2021 under first-year Tigers head coach Bryan Harsin, Auburn must improve across the board next season. That won't be easy considering the team's roster turnover, specifically after quarterback Bo Nix and six other Tigers entered the transfer portal. Nix has since announced his transfer to Oregon.
Perhaps Auburn will stick with rising junior TJ Finley as its quarterback with Nix moving on, but it would be silly for Harsin to put all of his eggs in Finley's basket given his up-and-down showings in his two-year college career. Auburn should return three quarterbacks behind Finley in rising redshirt sophomore Sawyer Pate, rising redshirt freshman Dematrius Davis and walk-on Trey Lindsey, but none of those quarterbacks have attempted a pass in their careers.
Former Bowling Green quarterback Grant Loy could return as a sixth-year senior for his third year with the program, but he was the team's third-string QB in 2021.
As such, Jones could be a tempting quarterback for Harsin to pursue in the portal. He threw more passes in 2021 than Loy, Pate, Davis and Lindsey have attempted in their careers combined.
Auburn moved away from the quarterback run game in 2021 compared to its usage under Malzahn, but Nix still utilized his legs at times and the playbook could be expanded for Jones to do so if he switched from orange and blue to orange and navy.
Virginia Tech
With a new coaching staff settling in, Virginia Tech will likely scan the transfer portal for a quarterback and could certainly use one of Jones' caliber, especially after starter Braxton Burmeister and backup Knox Kadum entered the portal after the regular season ended.
The Hokies should return just two quarterbacks in rising redshirt senior Connor Blumrick and rising redshirt freshman Tahj Bullock next season and signed one in 2022 QB Devin Farrell this past Wednesday, emphasizing the need for an experienced signal-caller.
It remains to be seen if Jones would smoothly fit into Virginia Tech's offense as the Hokies hired a new head coach in Brent Pry, who is currently filling out his coaching staff. Jacksonville Jaguars tight ends coach Tyler Bowen is reportedly expected to become the Hokies' offensive coordinator, although he runs more of a dropback passing system as seen during his time as Penn State's co-offensive coordinator.
However, Virginia Tech needs quarterback help as much as any Power 5 school at this point. Jones is one of the best options available, and if the program can land him, Bowen will need to adjust his offense to the quarterback's strengths.
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