Wednesday’s early signing day was a big deal for Dan Mullen.
No recruit is guaranteed to be a star. But the commitment of 4-star QB Emory Jones is a solid first step to rebuilding the foundation of talent that had cracked under Jim McElwain. This is especially true considering that Mullen only had three weeks to decide to pursue Jones in lieu of previously committed QB Matt Corral.
Mullen stated in his opening press conference that a coach has to adapt to his QB rather than the other way around. He has certainly shown that ability in his time as offensive coordinator at Florida and as head coach at Mississippi State.
Chris Leak was not a statue behind the line of scrimmage, but defenses did not quake at his ability to run. Tebow was a generational player, but Mullen and Meyer still had to adapt to his unique throwing motion.
In his time at Mississippi State, Mullen was able to succeed with QBs Tyson Lee, Chris Relf, Tyler Russell, Dak Prescott and Nick Fitzgerald. All those QBs had very different skill sets, and none of them were rated better than a 3-star prospect.
With the addition of Jones, Mullen may not have to adapt at all.
The Running Game
As outlined in Oliver Connolly’s excellent breakdown of Mullen’s offense, the QB in Mullen’s offense wants to win the numbers game. This is where the dual-threat QB becomes so important.
In the above play, Mississippi State QB Nick Fitzgerald sees only 6 LSU players in the box and knows he has 6 blockers. The play is a direct QB run with the running back serving as the lead blocker and getting the key block to spring Fitzgerald.
Now, the play does require that each blocker wins his individual battles. That isn’t something that Florida has done much of the past few years, but the expectation is that new strength coach Nick Savage is going to help with that.
Note how the wide receivers are split out so wide that they don’t play into the math. This greatly simplifies the read for the QB.
This is a simple play for a QB to run, regardless of experience level. And Emory Jones has already shown in his high school film that he can run this exact play.
This play occurs in the red zone and the math is slightly different. But the offense has the advantage of one extra blocker against a defense not positioned to counter effectively. The result is that Jones is able to get to the pylon for a touchdown.
But the concept of playing to the numbers advantage works from more traditional formations, not just with the threat of a running QB.
Here Mississippi State is in a bunched formation, but again has a numbers advantage against the Tigers with eight blockers to LSU’s eight defenders. The single high safety look LSU was in to start the play is a dead giveaway that safety Grant Delpit (9) is going to come up in run support and that the corner has to drop in coverage.
But at the snap Delpit is still 9-yards deep. He does get involved in the tackle, but doesn’t make contact with the running back until he’s already 4 yards downfield.
Contrast this with what Jim McElwain and offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier tried to do later in the season against the same LSU defense. When Florida shifts into the exact same formation as Mississippi State above, LSU shifts slightly and shows a cover-2 shell. This is a look that Florida should want to run against, as they have a numbers advantage.
But remember what I said earlier about having to win 1-on-1 battles. At the snap right tackle Jawaan Taylor (65) and right guard Fred Johnson (74) double team LSU’s defensive end. Right guard Brett Heggie (61) and tight end C’yontai Lewis (80) both pull across the formation.
This combination does two things. By double teaming the defensive end, Florida has given up its numbers advantage and the running back will be forced to make a defender miss. Then, by pulling Heggie across the formation, it provides space for LSU linebacker Devin White (40) to shoot into the backfield. When Heggie gets stoned by LSU linebacker Corey Thompson (23), Perine is forced to cut right back into White.
Now, had Heggie made the block this may have been an opportunity to make a significant gain. But why get so complicated? You have a numbers advantage to just run straight ahead as Mississippi State did. Instead, Florida got cute with a counter, pulling multiple players across the formation.
This kind of complexity can lead to explosive plays if executed correctly. But it also requires significant coordination and athletic ability and risks negative plays. Running straight ahead in this formation against this defense just requires the blockers to get in the way of the defender, all while being virtually guaranteed a 5-yard gain.
The Passing Game
Everything Mullen does in the passing game is based on establishing the running game. I suspect that this is why he’s struggled so much against Alabama. The Tide have multiple players who can win 1-on-1 matchups consistently and get penetration.
But again Mississippi State’s game against LSU shows what Mullen’s offense looks like when he establishes the run. The Bulldogs had dominated LSU up front and were up 20-7 halfway through the third quarter when facing a third-and-1 from the LSU 45.
A first down meant that Mississippi State would be getting awfully close to field goal range, and so LSU decided to bring up both safeties. This is a look where most teams run the ball, even though they are at a numbers advantage, because it’s third-and-short.
Mullen knows this, and so had Bulldogs’ wide receiver Keith Mixon (23) fake his block and release out into his pattern. Running back Aeris Williams (22) was able to just get in Devin White’s (40) way enough (with the help of a hold from the guard) to allow Fitzgerald to get the throw off. At that point, it was an easy pitch and catch.
Two things to notice about this throw. First, Fitzgerald took the snap under center. This wasn’t unusual in Mullen’s offense last season and likely won’t be unusual for the Gators. The second thing to notice is how Fitzgerald had to make the throw off of his back foot to escape the pressure.
The first observation is relevant because I was surprised when watching film of Emory Jones at how often he received the snap from under center. He showed good footwork and an understanding of how to get his head around after a play action fake.
On this play, Jones has two backs but essentially carries out the same play fake as Fitzgerald did in the clip above. What you’ll notice is that Jones’ opponent has loaded the box. They don’t sell out like LSU did with no safeties, but this is an easy pitch and catch once the linebackers come up for the fake.
The second observation is relevant because everything I watched indicated that Jones offensive line wasn’t very good and that he is adept at throwing off balance.
On this play Jones gets flushed to his right. He’s able to escape the defensive end and make an accurate throw. Over and over again in the highlights of Jones, his coaches had him roll out of the pocket to protect the offensive line.
He showed a strong arm and pretty good accuracy, but he wasn’t always consistent with his footwork. He also abandoned the pocket and put his offensive line in tough positions at times. But he also continued looking downfield as he scrambled, and he was athletic enough to wait for a receiver to uncover.
From the film I’ve watched of Matt Corral, he spent the majority of his time in the shotgun until his team got into the red zone and rarely made off-balance throws due to faulty protection. Make no mistake, Corral is a good player. But Jones skill set – and what he was asked to do in high school – make him a better fit for Mullen’s offense, especially if he has to start early.
Takeaway
I’ve received a lot of questions on Twitter the past few days about the quarterback battle and who should have a leg up. The concern is that Jones is too young to step in immediately and succeed.
But barring a sixth year of eligibility for Malik Zaire, Florida’s quarterback depth chart will look like the following:
- Feleipe Franks (RSo): 124-228, 1432 yards, 8 TD, 8 INT, 111.7 QB Rating
- Kyle Trask (RSo): No playing time
- Jake Allen (RFr): No playing time
- Nick Sproles (RSo): No playing time
- Kadarius Toney (So): 1-2, 50 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT, 260.0 QB Rating
If you don’t think Franks is the answer (I don’t), then the only other option who has any experience at all is Toney. I’ve stumped for him to be the starter for almost a year now based on his play in high school, and I still think he would do a good job.
Toney certainly has the skill set that would fit in Mullen’s offense, but he’ll be starting in the exact same place as Jones on day one of spring practice. Toney also proved to be one of the few weapons Florida had at receiver (along with Tyrie Cleveland), a problem that is exacerbated by moving him to quarterback.
Instead I expect Mullen to hand the keys to Jones. Yes, it should be an open competition for each QB to show what he can do. But based on fit with Mullen’s offense and their high school profiles, I don’t see a scenario where Franks, Trask, Allen or Sproles have a path to the starting job. But maybe I’ll be wrong and Franks will come out firing in an offense that is significantly more simple.
And that is really the takeaway from examining Mullen’s offense. Having a dual-threat QB lets him do exactly what he wants to do. But even when the QB isn’t involved in the play design, the offense is – at its core – all about simplicity and exploiting numbers advantages.
It isn’t extraordinarily complex, but does require quick decisions by the man pulling the trigger. Within that framework, there is a path for one of the QBs other than Jones to get the starting nod.
But based on his fit with what Mullen wants to do and what he’s shown on film, I’m not going to bet on it.