Comparing Starkel and Franks as Arkansas graduate transfer QBs

The Razorbacks landed their presumed starting quarterback Monday when Feleipe Franks announced he was transferring to Arkansas from Florida.

Bringing in a former starting quarterback at another SEC school would typically be met with excitement, especially when a team has struggled as much at the position as Arkansas in recent years, but some fans weren’t sold.

There were plenty of “Here we go again” and “Because that worked so well last time” comments on social media, referring to the Razorbacks bringing in another graduate transfer with SEC starting experience last year - Nick Starkel from Texas A&M.

With that in mind, HawgBeat decided to take a closer look at the two quarterbacks and how they compared coming to Fayetteville…

As Recruits

Both players were in the Class of 2016 and listed as pro-style quarterbacks coming out of high school.

Franks was a 6.0 four-star prospect at Wakulla High in Crawfordville, Fla., and ranked 57th overall in the country. He was also the No. 3 pro-style quarterback in the class, behind only Jacob Eason (Georgia/Washington) and K.J. Costello (Stanford/TBA) and two spots ahead of Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins Jr. - who just finished his rookie season with the Redskins as a first-round pick.

For more than two years, Franks was committed to LSU. However, with then-head coach Les Miles and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron on the hot seat, he decided to decommit and landed at Florida not long after that. In addition to those schools, Franks also had offers from Alabama, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia, Texas and several other Power Five programs.

Starkel was a 5.7 three-star prospect at Liberty Christian in Argyle, Texas, so he was outside of the Rivals250. He was among the top 20 pro-style quarterbacks, though, checking in at No. 15 - just behind Notre Dame’s Ian Book and a few spots ahead of Colorado State’s Collin Hill. (Arkansas’ quarterback signee that class was Cole Kelley, a 5.5 three-star pro-style quarterback who was not ranked at the position.)

Much like Franks, he was previously committed to a different school. Starkel’s pledge to Oklahoma State lated only eight months before he re-opened his recruitment. It seemed like UCLA was the frontrunner initially, but that shifted to Texas A&M when then-head coach Kevin Sumlin hired offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone away from the Bruins. Starkel committed to the Aggies a couple of weeks before signing day and just a month after a mass exodus at his position, with Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray transferring out. Those were his only Power Five offers, but he had some from Group of Five schools and also reportedly considered Yale.

Physical Traits

Although both were considered strong-armed quarterbacks coming out of high school, there was one glaring difference: Franks is 6-foot-6, a full three inches taller than the 6-foot-3 Starkel. Not surprisingly, Franks’ listed weight of 238 pounds at Florida is heavier than Starkel’s 214 pounds.

It’s also worth noting that articles about Franks mentioned he had “good mobility,” while stories about Starkel mostly focused on his leadership and footwork.

With the Razorbacks, it became clear why, as Starkel was definitely not a runner. He even joked with reporters before the season that he could be “mobile enough” when asked how mobile he could be in Arkansas’ offense.