Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
As the 2019 college football regular season is coming to a close, player rankings are certain to run rampant.
With that, Pro Football Focus has begun to release their quarterback rankings through the first Week 12. With 130 qualifying quarterbacks, PFF elected to split the rankings in two, beginning with the QBs who ended up in the 50-130 range.
With a 66.8 completion percentage, 2293 passing yards, 21 touchdowns, and only six interceptions in 10 games, one wouldn't expect to see Gators starting quarterback Kyle Trask fall in the latter range. But alas.
Trask stands at the No. 66 spot in PFF's QB rankings through Week 12. For reference, Florida's season-opening starter Feleipe Franks stood at No. 43 prior to the season, and Trask has been a far more efficient passer in 10 games than Franks had been in his career prior to dislocating his ankle against Kentucky in Week 3.
Here is PFF's explanation for Trask's ranking:
66. Kyle Trask, Florida
Trask has emerged as a much better quarterback than Feleipe Franks was for the Gators and while he may not have the athletic ability on the ground that Franks possesses, it's fairly certain that Trask is the much better passer. Still, the Gators will want more from him moving forward as he's thrown just nine big-time throws compared to 16 turnover-worthy passes. He's been terrific with play-action and equally impressive without the aid of a play fake but has tried to force a few too many throws in each situation. As he continues to develop as a thrower in the Florida offense, those types of mistakes should be limited and the grades and wins should follow.
The assessment feels totally fair, but does it warrant being a bottom-50% passer in the nation? Because the 66th spot is the first ranking below average.
16 turnover-worthy passes are concerning, and drastically emphasizes that Trask's six interceptions isn't particularly telling to his overall ball safety. And those passes appear more often as Trask throws downfield. But what does that all mean?
Trask is completing 167/227 (73.6%) of his passes under 20 yards down the field. Over 20 yards downfield, however, Trask is only completing 48.5% of his attempts (16/33), and going deep, Trask has thrown three of his six interceptions.
The most concerning aspect? Trask is only targeting 20+ yards downfield on 12.7% of his attempts. Meaning, the ceiling of Florida's offense has been limited, and is at risk for turnovers when Trask does sparingly go deep.
However, Trask's efficiency within 20 yards of the line of scrimmage, which occupies 75% of Pro Football Focus's throwing map, has been close to elite. From targeting behind the of scrimmage up to 19.9 yards down the field, Trask has amassed 1837 yards on 227 attempts, averaging 8.09 yards per attempt, 15 TDs, and three INTs.
And at the end of the day, Florida owns the nation's 22nd best passing offense, ranking third in the SEC behind LSU and Alabama.
The deep ball and turnover-worthy throws are valid concerns, and worth discussion. But again, is it enough to lump Trask into the bottom half of the nation's quarterbacks when you consider what he does well and has accomplished as a seven-year backup-turned-starter?
I certainly don't think so.
