Athlon: Florida Gators' Kyle Trask the No. 15 QB in College Football
Well-known college football outlet Athlon Sports has released its College Football Annual Magazine, dissecting each team and position across the nation to rank and preview the upcoming season.
While Athlon has yet to release positional rankings in digital form, the magazine is now available to purchase and the quarterback rankings have already hit social media. Florida Gators quarterback Kyle Trask finds himself at No. 15 on the list following his breakout 2019 campaign.
"We considered several factors," Athlon made note of its quarterback ranking process, "including 2019 statistics, projections for 2020, value to the team, recruiting profile, and overall talent."
In front of Trask, in descending order: Clemson's Trevor Lawrence, Ohio State's Justin Fields, North Carolina's Sam Howell, Texas' Sam Ehlinger, Iowa State's Brock Purdy, Oklahoma's Spencer Rattler, Southern California's Kedon Slovis, Notre Dame's Ian Book, Minnesota's Tanner Morgan, Southern Methodist's Shane Buechele, Georgia's Jamie Newman, Arizona State's Jayden Daniels, Miami's D'Eriq King, and UCF's Dillon Gabriel.
Trask is the SEC's second-highest rated quarterback, behind Newman who has yet to take a snap at Georgia after transferring from Wake Forest.
The rising redshirt senior, who completed 66.9% of his passes for 2,941 yards, 25 touchdowns, and seven interceptions in 12 games (10 starts) a year ago, perhaps could suffer in the rankings from his two and three-star recruiting profile coming out of high school. Emerging in place of injured starter Feleipe Franks and leading the Gators to a 209 Orange Bowl victory over Virginia, Trask and the success of the quarterback position is vital to Florida having any shot of clinching a 2020 playoff appearance - which is the team's goal.
Emory Jones has flashed the potential to run the system effectively, but there is little doubt that this is the veteran Trask's team entering a unique 2020 season amidst the coronavirus. Jones' presence should have no impact on Trask's value.
Based on projections and value, Trask has a fighting case to be ahead of Newman given the size of Georgia's quarterback room and roster strength, and several other quarterbacks whose team's playoff aspirations are more far-fetched (Daniels, Gabriel, Purdy, etc.). In terms of production, Rattler stands nine spots ahead of Trask yet he only threw 11 passes as a highly-rated freshman in 2019 - and lost out on a crucial spring camp for his development due to the coronavirus.
Where do you think Trask should be ranked among the nation's best quarterbacks? Let us know in the comments below.
