No QB1 yet, Franks the frontrunner
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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas has yet to name a starting quarterback, but Feleipe Franks is the clear frontrunner for the job.
While head coach Sam Pittman made a point last week to say that the graduate transfer from Florida wasn’t the starter yet, offensive coordinator Kendal Briles admitted it was “his job to lose” in a video conference Friday.
The Razorbacks would like to get into fall camp before making anything official, though, so they can see him in pads and running an offense.
“I don’t think there’s a set time when you do it,” Briles said. “I think it’s a feel - a feel with myself and Coach Pittman, and frankly the entire staff. Everybody’s got to have a feel for the guy who’s going to be touching the ball every single play.”
There is no timeline for when Briles hopes to name a starter and then sort out the depth behind QB1, but it will likely be next month.
Camp starts Monday, but the first couple of practices are helmet-only and the next two after that are half-pads. It won’t be until the following week that Arkansas finally suits up and goes full pads.
“I think it’s going to take a couple of weeks to figure out exactly which guy we feel like can lead us to victories,” Briles said. “You’ve got to get in the fire, you’ve got to go in scrimmages and obviously we’re going to protect our quarterbacks, so they’re not going to get hit.”
Even though the Razorbacks have been mostly limited to individual drills in walk-through practices and Briles hasn’t seen Franks run any 11-on-11, he said he hasn’t been disappointed in what he’s seen so far.
“I figured he was going to have a real live arm and he does,” Briles said. “Thing I’ve been impressed with is how he’s been able to get the ball out of his hand and just really consistent with all his throws. Not a lot of wobble in the ball.”