Florida football: There’s a strong case for Feleipe Franks to go to Kansas

Florida football quarterback Feleipe Franks is headed out of Gainesville. There’s a compelling argument suggesting he heads to the Midwest.

Our colleagues at Through the Phog — the site covering the Kansas Jayhawks — have made some interesting points about Florida football quarterback Feleipe Franks possibly heading to Lawrence next season.

You may remember Franks announced on Instagram his intention to either enter the 2020 NFL Draft or become a graduate transfer.

First, the likelihood of Franks entering the draft, especially coming off a season-ending ankle injury, is pretty slim. If he went, it would be a low-round pick.

His best option is to become a graduate transfer and get another year of experience under his belt, then test the draft waters.

Now, there are several options Franks may have, but our friends covering Kansas have sold me on the fact that Franks’ best prospect would be to head to Lawrence and work under former LSU head coach Les Miles.

They point out that Franks recently added Miles and Kansas offensive coordinator Brent Dearmon on his Twitter account — which I take little stock in.

But, the Jayhawks are looking for a new quarterback next season after Carter Stanley graduates. So, you have a hole that the former Florida football quarterback can fill with relative ease.

The Jayhawks run a “run and gun” style offense under Dearmon — who just finished his first season as offensive coordinator in Division I football. He replaced Les Koenning after the Jayhawks were blown out by Oklahoma.

They followed up with a 569-yard offensive performance in a tight loss to Texas. Of that, 310 yards came in the air.

This would fit Franks perfectly as he commands in the pocket and wants to throw the football. In just his second season under center for Florida football, Franks tossed for 2,457 yards and 24 touchdowns, so throwing the football is not a problem.

The other big connection here is Franks was a commit for Miles when he was the head coach at LSU. Although Franks ultimately broke the commitment and came to Florida football, there could be a spark there for Franks and Miles to reconnect.

Franks would still be in Power 5 football with the Jayhawks in the Big 12. He could also help engineer a complete turnaround as Kansas won just three games in Miles’ first season. I don’t expect that to be the norm for Miles or the Jayhawks and I think Franks could be an integral part of that resurgence.

He would have a very competent running back in Pooka Williams back — Williams was named to the All-Big 12 first team recently. In addition, leading receiver Andrew Parchment will return for his senior season after catching 65 passes for 831 yards and seven touchdowns this season.

Fellow receiver Kwamie Lassiter II will also be back for his senior season. Lassiter was Kansas’ third-leading receiver with 34 receptions for 352 yards and a touchdown.

All told, there are a lot of pieces returning for Kansas next season and they are pieces Franks could certainly capitalize on.

Kansas would be a great place for the former Florida football quarterback to get back on track and make a name for himself above what he’s already done with the Gators.