Breaking Down Florida's Wild Offseason QB Battle

During a typical offseason, if a team returns a quarterback who finished each of the last two seasons as a starter, it would qualify as a pretty strong foundation no matter what other pieces are around him.

Florida's offense this offseason, though, is anything but stable.

Junior Treon Harris will return after ascending to the top spot on the depth chart in the middle of each of the last two seasons, but he completed just 47.8 percent of his passes once the calendar changed to November and seemed like a square peg in a round hole in head coach Jim McElwain's system from the jump.

Will Harris win the job out of fall camp, or will another contender out of a group step up? 

Let's break down the contenders:

Junior Treon Harris

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Harris obviously has the most experience, which will be beneficial for McElwain's crew considering the woes of the offensive line and the absence of last year's starting running back, Kelvin Taylor. Having somebody back there who has been through the rigors of the season, knows the speed of the game and is comfortable with the simple things like getting plays in and players lined up is important.

But Harris' upside simply isn't there.

He is erratic with the football, struggles to go through reads and doesn't have the touch that McElwain-coached quarterbacks need to be successful.

As former Missouri wide receiver T.J. Moe pointed out on Twitter, Harris has the kind of reputation no player wants:

"

Florida doesn't count. Treon Harris is the worst starting QB for a division champ in major college football history. Just painful to watch.

— T.J. Moe (@TJMoe28) January 2, 2016"

Experience matters, as does his elusiveness and ability to create behind the line of scrimmage when the protection breaks down. 

Will that be enough to earn him the starting job? Probably not. He is going to have to improve his decision-making and his accuracy if he wants to win the job coming out of fall camp.

Outlook: Not likely the starter

Junior Luke Del Rio

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The long and winding patch to Gainesville for junior Luke Del Rio has taken the California native to Alabama and Oregon State, but after sitting out his transfer year in 2015, the former Elite 11 quarterback is ready to contend for the starting quarterback job at Florida.

Does he have what it takes?

The 6'1", 216-pounder has a big arm, experience in a variety of systems, knows what to expect out of McElwain after spending time on the Gator scout team a year ago and will likely enter spring practice as the top contender to earn the job.

As GatorCountry.com's Nick de la Torre pointed out during Florida's Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl loss to Michigan, Del Rio has fans in the Gators coaching staff:

The journeyman has seen a lot but doesn't have a ton of experience. He completed just eight of his 18 passes for 141 yards as Sean Mannion's backup in 2014. That's not a lot to work off of.

He's much more of a natural fit for McElwain's offense than Harris, and the experience he gained last year while sitting out should allow him to hit the ground running and become one of the favorites exiting spring practice provided he stays healthy.

Outlook: Probable starter

Senior Austin Appleby

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If McElwain wants a quarterback who has the arm and stature to stand tall in the pocket, Purdue graduate transfer Austin Appleby might be his guy.

The 6'5", 239-pound former starter for the Boilermakers made 11 starts, threw for 2,777 yards and tossed 19 touchdowns over the last three seasons, but he lost his job to hotshot freshman David Blough in 2015.

A former Elite 11 finalist, Appleby isn't as familiar with the system as Harris or Del Rio, but he has had more success at the college level than Del Rio and is a much better fit for the ideal Gators offense.

With Blough out with a concussion, Appleby got the start in Purdue's final game of the regular season against Indiana. He went out with a bang, as Brady Ackerman of Florida Sports Talk and the Gator Radio Network noted on Twitter:

He'll have to learn the system on the fly in a crowded race, which is never an easy thing to do. If he picks it up, though, he could turn out to be one of the most important graduate transfers of the offseason.

Outlook: Possible starter

Freshman Feleipe Franks

True freshman early enrollee Feleipe Franks is the future of the quarterback position, and one of the biggest questions facing McElwain this spring is deciding whether the future is now.

The U.S. Army All-American from Crawfordville, Florida, flipped from LSU to the Gators last fall and has everything the staff wants from a quarterback. At 6'5", 210 pounds with a big arm and solid accuracy, he is a perfect fit for the Florida program.

It's not a matter of "if," but a matter of "when" for Franks. 

The beauty of Florida's current quarterback battle is, while the position has been a sore spot since Tim Tebow moved on after the 2009 season, Del Rio's eligibility and the decision to transfer to the program by Appleby actually give McElwain some flexibility on how he fits his future quarterback into the mix.

"When" might not be the first series against UMass on September 3, but he will likely be part of the game plan in some capacity as the season goes on. He has all of the talent to be a superstar, and the staff will find out just how ready he is during the season and usher him along as needed.   

Outlook: Won't start but could end the season as starter

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Statistics are courtesy of cfbstats.com, and recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.