Jon Sumrall on Gators QB race: ‘Neither one is light years ahead’

GAINESVILLE — After the first scrimmage of preseason camp, Florida coach Jon Sumrall doesn’t see a frontrunner in the Gators’ closely watched quarterback competition. Aaron Philo and Tramell Jones Jr. are neck and neck entering a pivotal week that culminates with a second scrimmage Saturday night. “Neither one is just light years ahead of the other,” Sumrall said Monday. “They’re both doing really good things.” Philo arrived in January with the advantage of two seasons with new offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner at Georgia Tech. “In the spring, Philo was way ahead because of understanding the offense and Tramell was significantly behind,” Sumrall said. But Jones has steadily digested the playbook, limiting turnovers during the Gators’ two key scrimmages. Philo’s third-down interception to cornerback Cormani McClain, who made a heady and athletic play on the ball, was the only pick thrown. Philo also suffered two interceptions during the April 11 spring game. He quickly responded Saturday with a touchdown pass to former Georgia Tech teammate and close friend Bailey Stockton. “That was the most impressive thing to me of his scrimmage,” Sumrall said. “Bad play, and then followed it up with really good football afterwards. That’s the quarterback position. You’re going to throw a pick and the whole crowd’s going to boo, and what do you do next? “That says a lot about you.” Jones has a stronger arm and more top-end speed than Philo, who has been consistently more decisive delivering the football. Both have flashed big-play ability. On Saturday, receiver Eric Singleton made a diving 50-yard catch on a pass from Philo, his former teammate in 2024 at Georgia Tech before Singleton spent the 2025 season at Auburn. Philo also found Micah Mays on a deep post pattern at the goal line, but the Wake Forest transfer dropped the ball. Mays and Jones connected on a 75-yard touchdown during the spring game, the day’s longest play. “He’s usually Mr. Automatic catching everything,” Sumrall said of Mays. “He was disappointed in himself.” Mays, Stockton and TJ Abrams are in the second rotation of receivers behind Singleton, Dallas Wilson and Vernell Brown III, who sat out Saturday with a bone bruise in his foot but returned to practice Monday. Entering the third week of preseason camp, many spots in the team’s two-deep depth chart remain unsettled. Lineups will begin to crystallize, and Sumrall and his staff will award snaps accordingly next week as the Gators ramp up for the Sept. 5 season opener against Florida Atlantic in the Swamp. “You’ll kind of start to act like we have a game next week,” he said. This week, Sumrall and offensive line coach Phil Trautwein will look to establish an eight-man rotation with a unit featuring just one player with more than 10 SEC starts, left guard Knijeah Harris, and potentially three new starters. Sumrall called tackle, “the biggest question.” Caden Jones started 10 games at right tackle in 2025 after Bryce Lovett struggled there during the season’s first two games. Each is battling for the starting job, with Lovett also seeing time at guard. On the left side, Penn State transfer Eagan Boyer and Stanford transfer Emeka Ugori are the top candidates, while redshirt freshman TJ Dice Jr. “is getting better,” Sumrall said. “Some guys are elevating. The challenge there has been consistency,” Sumrall said. “We have to be dialed in, we have to be detailed in assignment, fundamentals, and technique, and then we got to strain all the time, non-negotiable up there.” The Gators’ opening drive ended when the team failed to convert on fourth-and-one with star tailback Jadan Baugh. “I was absolutely freaking pissed,” Sumrall said. “If it’s fourth-and-1, that should be 100% conversion for us.” The Gators ran 127 plays during Saturday’s scrimmage, with the first team handling 50 snaps, the second 43 and the third team 34. Sumrall said he reviewed the film five times. While he liked plenty he watched, Sumrall wants fewer mistakes and more consistency. Two blown coverages, for example, led to touchdowns, while the Gators settled three times for field goals in the red zone. “It’s okay to get beat on a play, it’s not okay to just give them plays,” Sumrall said of the coverage miscues. “We can’t beat ourselves. So Florida beat Florida on defense a couple times on Saturday, which was really frustrating.” Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com