With three games left to go in the season for the Florida Gators, we saw our first official opt-out of the season when Tank Hawkins opted to sit out the rest of the season to preserve his redshirt status.
As of now, Hawkins is the only one to opt out, but interim coach Billy Gonzales isn't naive that he might have a decision to make before the end of the season.
Billy Gonzales to think about Tramell Jones redshirt status
During his weekly SEC teleconference, Gonzales was asked whether or not preserving the redshirt status for current backup QB Tramell Jones would factor into whether or not he plays if needed.
Gonzales didn't shy away from the question:
"I think you always take, knowing that in the back of your pocket, we'll cross that road when we get to it. We've got three games left. I know Tramell's got two games to play. But we'll cross that road when we get to it.
If we cross that road when we get to it, coming into that last game of the year, if we need to. Right now, everything's as is. We've got to continue to get better, continue to compete, competition's always there.
And again, everything we do is for a learning process and the teaching process to make sure our players can learn from the mistakes, have a short memory, go back on the football field, and get ready to play."
So if you are following along, Jones has appeared in two games this season (LIU and Kentucky). Per NCAA rules, he can appear in two more games and still preserve his redshirt status, and the Gators have three total games left in the season.
Now, this is against the backdrop of whether or not Jones would even be needed against Ole Miss. Gonzales benched Lagway against Kentucky, and while Lagway is still taking starter reps, he wasn't given an automatic vote of confidence as the guaranteed starter to face Ole Miss.
Even if Lagway does start, we would have to imagine his leash is going to be short, especially since it was already yanked once.
So, don't be shocked if Lagway gets pulled and we see either Aidan Warner or Harrison Bailey, the two QBs everyone thought were going to battle it out before Jones swooped in and claimed the spot.