Gators' QB Kyle Trask Improves Game, Physique, 'Firing On All Cylinders'

This offseason, Kyle Trask went home to Houston, Texas, amid the coronavirus pandemic and did exactly what you'd want your quarterback to do.

He dedicated himself to perfecting his craft: To "Improve my overall self, and my health, and my game," as Trask told the media on Wednesday night.

Trask spent time this offseason training with his high school teammate, now-Miami quarterback D'Eriq King, at Select QB Athletics, rewatching every game that he played in during the 2019 season, and shedding a few pounds. Keeping himself in check, improving his game, and being remaining, his leadership skills are being noticed around the team.

"Kyle's done a tremendous job so far," said Florida quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson. "Just in terms of taking everything to the next level from a leadership standpoint, from a football standpoint, even doing a great job with his body. He's down 10 or 12 pounds, he's looking lean."

Trask says that he's lost around 13 pounds this offseason, after feeling "a little heavy" towards the end of the 2019 season. Trask was listed at 6-5, 239 lbs. on the team's 2019 roster.

"Yeah, oh, thanks for noticing," Trask laughed when asked about his body transformation. "We had a lot of time to ourselves, and I just tried to take initiative and tried to improve my health in all aspects of my life. I definitely feel a lot more quicker on my feet, and things like that that have helped my game since."

Johnson has noticed similar advancements, crediting Trask for improving his "suddenness in the pocket, his escapability, being able to evade rushers and things of that nature," with a leaner build.

Stepping in as the starter last season, Trask led Florida to own the nation's No. 16 passing offense, throwing for 2,941 yards, 25 touchdowns, and seven interceptions in 12 games and ten starts. Trask also added 170 rushing yards and four scores across 33 attempts, although there were times where a lack of mobility as a passer led to pockets collapsing around him and some ball security issues earlier in the year.

Johnson called Trask a willing runner, but timing when to run and situational football have been big focuses of his training in terms of mobility. Trask also continued to work on his accuracy and progressions over the summer, the redshirt senior added on Wednesday night.

"I was really pleased with how he came out of the scrimmage last week," said Johnson. "He was kind of firing on all cylinders and played really efficiently."

When the quarantine was in full effect, Trask found himself at home rewatching his entire 2019 season - both game film and the TV broadcasts - in order to nitpick his game and find things to work on.

"I knew this was an opportunity for me to really take that next jump in my game, individually," said Trask. "Just going back and things like footwork and getting through my progressions cleaner, that just was my focus through this whole little quarantine that we had."

Trask enters the season with competition at quarterback in redshirt sophomore Emory Jones, who has earned his fair share of praise from Johnson and head coach Dan Mullen this preseason as well. However, the developments that Johnson and Co. have seen from Trask, paired with his performance from a year ago, put him in a leadership position and surely lend him the upper-hand in the battle for the QB1 title.

"I had to do my best along with the other leaders on the team to try to keep our timing down and make sure we're continuing to improve our game," said Trask. "Even through these rough times that we're still trying to conquer right now."