Florida is a ‘serious contender’ for Grayson McCall

On3 imageby:Nick de la Torre12/19/22

delatorre

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — With only two scholarship quarterbacks on its roster and three once freshman Jaden Rashada enrolls in January, the Florida Gators need a transfer portal quarterback. That could be Coastal Carolina’s, Grayson McCall.

On Monday morning, On3’s Pete Nakos reported that Florida was a “serious contender” for Grayson McCall, who entered the transfer portal earlier this month.

McCall is Currently ranked as the No. 4 quarterback in On3’s Transfer Portal rankings, he has two years of eligibility remaining. He was set to visit Auburn last weekend but, per Auburn Live, had an “academic snag.” Auburn is now turning its attention to N.C. State quarterback Devin Leary.

Jack Miller made his first college start this past weekend in the Las Vegas Bowl for the Gators. Miller completed 13 of 22 passes for 180 yards. While he didn’t throw or run for a score, he also didn’t turn the ball over. The Gators struggled to move the ball against a tough Oregon State defense and mustered just three points.

Regardless of Miller’s performance last Saturday, Florida was already a player in the transfer portal quarterback market.

“Roster management as a whole, when you think about scholarship allocation by position, that’s a pretty extensive plan. We’d like to have four,” Napier said when asked how many scholarship quarterbacks the team needs. “I think in today’s era with all the attrition at quarterback within the portal sometimes you even get up to five. I think that’ll be the objective there. Somewhere in that range.”

Right now Florida has just two in Miller and Max Brown. That number will grow to three when Rashada enrolls for the spring semester but is under the number Napier wants. Miller could have thrown for 800 yards and eight touchdowns against Oregon State and the Gators still would have been in the market for another quarterback.

More on McCall

With three years of starting experience, he’s thrown for 8,019 career yards and 78 touchdowns with only eight interceptions. Capable of carrying the ball on the ground, too, he has 16 career rushing touchdowns. He’s a player that Billy Napier has experience against and a familiarity with. That’s something that we saw played a major role in Napier’s first recruiting class — familiarity.

McCall might also give you a guy that is hungry to show he belongs and isn’t just a one-year Band-Aid. A three-time Sun Belt Player of the Year, he has emerged as one of college football’s top quarterbacks since bursting on the scene as a redshirt freshman in 2020. With Coastal Carolina head coach Jamey Chadwell leaving for Liberty, the move to the portal is not a surprise. A strong year or two in the SEC will only boost Grayson McCall’s draft stock.

It’s looking unlikely that the Gators will make a splash in the high school ranks during early Signing Day, but landing McCall would be a bigger impact for the 2023 season than any high school commit on Wednesday.

You may also like