Florida football 2026 roster breakdown for quarterback

New Florida football quarterbacks coach Joe Craddock is eager for spring football and the competition for who will lead UF's offense in 2026.

Craddock said that he and new Florida Gators offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner will value accuracy as much as arm strength, if not more so. Two years ago at Tulane, Craddock coached Darian Mensah, who completed 65.9% of his passes for the Green Wave.

"A guy that can put it where it needs to go is huge," Craddock said. "We had a guy a couple years ago, you know, he's got good arm talent, but not elite, but he's very accurate with the ball, timing, anticipation, all those things is what you're looking for.”

The two leading contenders for the starting quarterback job are Georgia Tech transfer Aaron Philo, who played under Faulkner for the Yellow Jackets last season, and returning redshirt freshman quarterback Tramell Jones Jr.

Both Philo and Jones are proven dual threat quarterbacks who aren't afraid to take off when the pocket collapses. Craddock said despite the impending competition, there's camaraderie so far in the quarterback room.

“We laid the ground rules really early in that we're competing with each other, not against each other," Craddock said. "I think that's very important to know. We all play for Florida, we're all going to compete with each other, we're all going to try to make each other better."

Here's a look at UF's quarterbacks entering spring practices, which start on March 3:

Florida football 2026 quarterbacks

Newcomers: Aaron Philo, RSo., (transfer, Georgia Tech); Will Griffin, Fr.

Returners: Tramel Jones Jr., RFr.; Aidan Warner, RJr.; Aaron Williams RSo.

Outlook: The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Philo was Haynes King's backup in his first two seasons at Georgia Tech but made the most of his opportunities when he took the field. In two seasons with the Yellow Jackets, Philo passed for 938 yards with 2 TDs and 3 interceptions, while also rushing for 19 yards playing under Faulkner and Georgia Tech quarterback analyst AJ Erdely, who has also joined UF's staff

"For Buster and AJ to be able to see him every day and know what we're going to get, I think I relied heavily upon what they were saying about the guy," Craddock said. "You turn on the tape; you see traits that you really like. Got good arm strength, good size, can run a little bit and obviously has the familiarity with the offense. So, it was a kind of a no-brainer to bring him in.”

Craddock's first impression of Jones, who passed for 191 yards and 2 TDs and rushed for 10 yards as DJ Lagway's backup last season, is that he's a talented player with leadership traits.

"When you first get around and you see the interaction he has with the other guys, the other guys really like him and flock to him," Craddock said. "He's a natural leader in that regard, like he has just that factor that people want to be around him and associate with him … very intelligent. He has football IQ.
He's picked up the offense really, really quickly. And, you know, he's obviously very talented as a passer."

True freshman quarterback Will Griffin is a strong-armed pocket passer who is still adjusting to the college level. The 6-foot-4, 230-pound Griffin earned Florida Gatorade Player of the year honors in 2025 and passed for 12,299 yards and 143 TDs in his prep career at Tampa Jesuit.

"He's very eager to learn," Craddock said. "He wants more all the time. You know, he's got to learn, like, this is a little bit of a process. You know, he wants to hit a triple right now; it takes looking at a couple of pitches before you can hit the triple. But he's a very talented player. Very excited that he's here."

Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida football QB competition to start this spring. Here are the contenders