Florida Orange and Blue Debut Spring Game Shows Gators' 2015 QB Battle Not over

Florida quarterback Will Grier has been one of the most mysterious players in the SEC this spring.

The redshirt freshman from Davidson, North Carolina, not only has been vying for the top spot on Florida's depth chart under first-year head coach Jim McElwain, but he took the lead over incumbent starter Treon Harris for a brief time late in spring.

The Orange and Blue debut on Saturday in The Swamp peeled back the curtain on Grier, and he didn't disappoint.

Grier finished the day 7-of-9 for 130 yards in a rather offensively challenged game that forced McElwain to sub Grier and Harris with the first team since the second-team offensive line featured just one scholarship player.

Is that enough for Grier to win the job?

Nope.

While Harris, a sophomore, was slow out of the gate, he came on strong late with a solid second-half drive that included a long back-shoulder completion to stud wide receiver Demarcus Robinson and a short touchdown pass to C'yontai Lewis. Harris finished the day 6-of-9 for 94 yards and a touchdown.

Harris' late surge through the air—which culminated in a red-zone touchdown—makes it clear that this battle will last well into fall camp.

He fell behind Grier in the middle of spring practice after missing several practices dealing with a death in his family, but the dual-threat quarterback proved that he can function as a pro-style passer within the traditional offense that McElwain and first-year offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier employ.

He isn't simply an athlete who plays quarterback; he's a quarterback with elite athleticism who can make most of the throws that are required within the scheme.

That means the new staff won't have to veer too much from what it would ideally like to do when Harris is the one taking the snaps.

Stacy Revere/Getty Images

What's more, the Gators' offensive line issues aren't going to magically get better.

McElwain commented on Rod Johnson's stinger injury, saying it "doesn't look great," according to Nick de la Torre of GatorCountry.com, and Trip Thurman's shoulder injury is still very much a question. The presence of incoming freshman tackle Martez Ivey should help, but the Gators are still suffering from a number of problems up front.

Wouldn't an elite athlete at quarterback help negate some of those issues?

The quarterback race will go on, which for Florida is a very good thing.

What the spring game proved is that both players can handle what the coaching staff is throwing at them, which is a huge jump from where Florida was in the offseason, when that was a great unknown.

Grier has the lead, but most importantly, the Gators gained a little confidence in both contenders behind a patchwork offensive line that made it hard for any real progress to be made this spring.

The Gators took baby steps this spring, and that's about the best Gators fans could ask for considering the circumstances.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of cfbstats.com unless otherwise noted, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports' composite rankings.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on Sirius 93, XM 208.

Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.