Trask should make NFL leap
Eligibility rules dictate the senior can return for one more year

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Kyle Trask says he'll talk with his coaches and his family and make a decision on his future in the near future.

He could come back to school.

— Nick de la Torre (@delatorre) December 20, 2020

Senior quarterback Kyle Trask won more than just football games during his nearly two years as a starter in Gainesville. He won the hearts and minds of a Florida fanbase which drove the last quarterback to kindly tell us to shut the hell up. For the first time in the post-Tebowian world, Gator Nation was able to fully trust in a quarterback to show up and deliver the Gator Standard every Saturday.

“My time at Florida has been unreal and special,” Trask said in his emotional postgame press conference on Saturday, “I’ve grown so much physically and mentally.”

His stats also grew considerably.

The COVID year has created a ton of unusual stories and circumstances. Prior to the season, the NCAA ruled that this shortened season would not count against the eligibility of any football player. The idea was to incentivize players to actually play rather than sit-out in hopes of being granted a waiver. I don’t say this often: smart call, NCAA!

The ramifications of this ruling has yet to be felt, but it has already added extra layer of  intrigue heading into the offseason. Seniors, such as Trask, are able to come back to play another senior year which will interrupt the natural turnover of rosters around the country. In some cases, players hanging around for a previously unplanned year could cause congestion and will likely lead to an increase in transfers causing the transfer portal to openly operate as a free-agent market in the most extensive manner we’ve seen to date. The 2021 offseason will be a good time for a mass roster overhaul or to build depth with an already established roster depending on which direction the head coach wants to go.

Dan Mullen has a nice dilemma to work through in the coming weeks. Do you press a potential Heisman-winning quarterback to come back à la Tebow for another crack at a SEC and national title? Or do you encourage the accomplished two-year starter to take the next step and enter into the NFL Draft?

I think Kyle Trask will probably head to the NFL this offseason. Given his age and where he'd likely be selected vs. the risk in coming back, it makes sense.

But it'd be something else if he chose to try to come back to smash records.

— Thomas Goldkamp (@ThomasGoldkamp) December 20, 2020

This is a easy call that won’t require much discussion, but since it’s coming up in the media, let’s address it.

Kyle Trask should declare for the 2021 NFL Draft and not look back. His steady presence will be missed in Gainesville, but nearly every NFL Draft expert has Trask as a top-five quarterback coming out. Some publications will rate Trey Lance of North Dakota State or Zach Wilson of BYU ahead of the Florida signal-caller, but Trask has shown more on the field than either Lance or Wilson meaning he could end up being the third quarterback selected.

Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields will likely step into disaster-oriented franchises in Jacksonville and New York, but Trask has a chance to be drafted later in the first round by a more successful franchise like the Patriots or Steelers. (I can’t be the only one who envisions Trask as the perfect successor to Big Ben in Pittsburgh, right?)

There’s nothing left for Trask to prove at the college level. The Gators may’ve fallen short of their ultimate goal in 2020, but that failure had nothing to do with the quarterback position. As Will Miles wrote earlier in the week, Mullen and the Gators are on a great path, but there are certain parts of the program that still need to develop for in order to bring back titles to The Swamp. Trask is NFL ready.

Last week, my co-host Robert Parker and I interviewed Matt Waldman of the Rookie Scouting Portfolio on the American Football Stories podcast about Trask’s potential at the next level.

As sad as it is to watch Trask fly off and spread his pro football ready wings, Trask’s departure neatly sets up the next chapter of the Mullen era by handing the reigns of a potent offense over to the quarterback in waiting, Emory Jones.

Jones will bring back the run-based element that has been lacking since Mullen came to town. His mobility will unquestionably open up the running game in ways that Trask and Franks could not duplicate. We may miss Trask’s pinpoint passing and solid decision making, but there is little doubt that Jones will be able to put up good passing numbers in this system.

One downside of Trask returning would likely be the departure of Jones. He’s waited his turn and, like Trask at the pro level, Jones is ready to start in the SEC. If Florida won’t offer him the opportunity to start next season, somebody will. Luckily for Jones, this scenario seems unlikely and Gator Nation will turn its eyes to No. 5 for the 2021 season and beyond.