Yahoo Finance Arkansas lands ex-Florida QB Feleipe Franks as grad transfer
Another transfer quarterback is off the board.
Feleipe Franks, a transfer from Florida, announced Monday that he will continue his college career at Arkansas to play for new coach Sam Pittman and offensive coordinator Kendal Briles.
The 6-foot-6, 238-pound Franks made his decision after a weekend visit to campus in Fayetteville. According to Rivals, Franks has already enrolled for spring semester and will be with the Razorbacks for spring practice. Franks graduated from Florida and is eligible to play next season, this time in the SEC West.
Franks was a highly coveted four-star recruit when he arrived at Florida in the class of 2016. He emerged as the Gators’ starting quarterback in 2017 as a redshirt freshman, playing in 11 games with eight starts under Jim McElwain. He then started all 13 games in 2018 with Dan Mullen in place as head coach, helping the team win 10 games.
Franks returned as the team’s starter in 2019, only to go down with a season-ending leg injury in UF’s fourth game of the year. From there, longtime UF backup Kyle Trask thrived as the team’s starter and led the team to an 11-2 record. With Trask in place as the starter again in 2020, Franks opted to transfer for his final season of college ball. Arkansas, with a big opening at the position, became a fit for Franks as he went through the recruiting process.
In 27 games (24 starts) at Florida, Franks threw for 4,593 yards, 38 touchdowns and 17 interceptions while completing 59 percent of his passes. He also rushed for 438 yards and eight scores.
In addition to Franks, Arkansas also has senior Jack Lindsey, redshirt sophomore John Stephen Jones and redshirt freshman K.J. Jefferson. Lindsey, Jones and Jefferson were a combined 40-of-87 (46 percent) for 424 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions in 2019.
The Razorbacks, who went 2-10 in 2019, have yet to sign a quarterback in the 2020 class.
What grad transfer QBs are left?
With Franks going to Arkansas and ex-Houston QB D’Eriq King off the board to Miami earlier Monday, available graduate transfer options are dwindling.
Wake Forest transfer Jamie Newman chose Georgia earlier this month while ex-South Carolina QB Jake Bentley quickly chose Utah after choosing to leave Columbia.
Those decisions leave K.J. Costello and Anthony Brown, formerly of Stanford and Boston College, respectively, as the top available graduate transfer quarterbacks out there for teams looking for a proven starter for 2020. Chase Brice, Trevor Lawrence’s backup at Clemson the past two seasons, is also in the transfer portal.
More from Yahoo Sports:
