The real gap in Florida’s QB race isn’t performance, it’s potential

Florida’s spring game has come and gone, and for the most part, it was a positive afternoon for Gator fans. The players who needed to be explosive were explosive, and while Florida’s offensive line still has some major question marks, the overall play from the skill guys gives hope for the 2026 season.

At the center of the afternoon was the QB battle between Aaron Philo and Tramell Jones. Both had a solid enough outing, but it is clear after Saturday which of the two QBs has the higher ceiling when the Gators take the field for real four months from now.

Aaron Philo and Tramell Jones battle it out for the starting QB job for Florida

Philo, the transfer from Georgia Tech, had a decent enough afternoon. 21-28 passing for 193 yards and two touchdowns. On a play-by-play basis, the Gators usually got something positive from Philo, and it’s clear he has a solid understanding of what Buster Faulkner wants from the offense. 

And given that Jadan Baugh only had four carries in this game, there is a world where Philo as the QB makes sense as a game manager type QB who keeps the offense moving to set up big chunk runs from Baugh.

But Philo also took two sacks and threw two interceptions. And in a spring game, Philo had a yards per attempt of 6.8. That would have been 90th in the country last year among QBs with at least 200 dropbacks.

Because you know who took zero sacks, had zero interceptions, and threw for more yards?

That would be Tramell Jones.

Pretty deep balls don’t automatically make one a great QB, but if we were to project who has the higher ceiling between the two QBs four months from now, it’s not even close. Jones showcased his deep ball ability on both of his touchdowns, including a 75-yard strike to Micah Mays Jr.

In just 17 attempts, Jones racked up 210 yards and had a yards per attempt of 12.3. Even if that 75-yard touchdown was incomplete, Jones still would have had a better yards per attempt than Philo.

Learn from the past

We somewhat went through this with Graham Mertz and DJ Lagway in 2024. Mertz was a capable down-to-down QB, but his lack of a deep ball eventually enabled opposing defenses to just creep up and force Florida into constant 10-play drives just to get any kind of points.

And deep ball accuracy was a question mark for Philo when he transferred in from Georgia Tech, so Saturday wasn’t just a one-off performance in a vacuum. He did hit Vernell Brown III for a 31-yard touchdown towards the end of his afternoon, but everything else was largely kept short.

Again, this doesn’t mean Philo had a bad day, and it doesn’t mean that Jones right now is the automatic choice to be QB1 come this fall. A lot can happen in four months.

But if the advantage Philo had coming into this spring was understanding the offense, that advantage felt largely neutralized on Saturday. And combined with the upside advantage that Jones has when it comes to everything else, we wouldn’t be shocked if Jones wins this job four months from now.