Top 10 quarterbacks in the 2021 NFL Draft

CFP Semi-final at the Allstate Sugar Bowl - Clemson v Ohio State

#10 2021 NFL Draft Prospect: Feleipe Franks (Arkansas)

6' 6", 235 pounds; RS SR

Just outside the top-50 overall recruits in the country back in 2016, Feleipe Franks redshirted his first year at Florida and then was named the starter the upcoming season.

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He had an up-and-down debut campaign with the Gators, but then really turned it on as a sophomore, completing 58.4% of his passes for 189 yards per game, 24 touchdowns and six interceptions, plus another 350 total yards and seven scores on the ground.

In the third game of the 2019 season, he suffered a gruesome-looking ankle injury and opened the door for Kyle Trask, who turned himself into a Heisman trophy finalist and forced Franks to transfer in-conference to Arkansas. In his lone season with the Razorbacks, his completion percentage dramatically increased to 68.5, averaging 234 passing yards per game and a TD-to-INT ratio of 17-to-4, on 8.9 yards per attempt.

Franks was very well-received at Arkansas, being named a team captain for his only season there, and showed a lot of growth as a player, I thought. He offers a very sturdy frame and is in the conversation for the strongest arm in this class. He releases the ball from a balanced base, with all cleats in the ground. Franks can really hit that back-foot and let it fly.

He owns the farthest throw PFF has charted in college football, when he unleashed a Hail Mary versus Tennessee all the way back in 2017. Last season, his passer rating actually increased by depth of target, with it being at 147.1 on passes of 20+ yards, with 739 deep yards on just 25 attempts. Franks was asked to do a lot of these soft play-action fakes and RPOs, where it really stood out to me, how quickly he got his body pointed at the target.

The Razorbacks had him attack the middle and down the field in their RPO game, where he was highly effective. His pass-catchers at the next level will appreciate how rapidly the ball gets to them on throws over the middle, so they can still protect their bodies and get upfield. However, Franks can also change up ball speeds and his arm angles, as he checks it down late or just flips it to somebody in the flats. He had a lot of success attacking the voided area over the middle with angle routes by his backs, to defeat the blitz.

At close to 240 pounds, Franks has a really strong lower body to shake off sacks, but also some quickness to make charging rushers miss or just run through a crease if there’s a quick breakdown in protection. He can really dip away from defenders, drop his weight, and redirect if the space closes down. Yet, for the most part, his eyes stay down the field when he buys some extra time and re-sets his base before letting the ball go.

At the same time, he can purely arm-throw some balls, where his right foot is still in front, while he’s rolling to the left, and there are some sweet deep balls when running up into the pocket, as he puts a lot of air underneath those. There is some creativeness to Franks’ off-script game, signaling receivers to come back to the ball and finding guys working across the field late. This is a big body with long strides, who can be a real weapon in the quarterbacks run game – draws, zone read, invert veers.

But also as a scrambler, where he routinely falls forward for those extra couple of yards. Franks recently ran a 4.59 in the 40 at the Razorbacks’ pro day, which you can see, when he outraces defenders to the sideline, and he has some elusiveness to him, working in head fakes and hesitation moves. Plus, with his success in the RPO game and his capability as a runner, Franks opens up some big lanes on the inside for the Arkansas backs.

However, Franks certainly has an elongated release, where he gets his elbow goes back and his arm movement is very floppy overall, to where it looks like his arm is almost fully extended and facing his own end-zone. That way it all comes from his upper body and there can be a lot inconsistency with his accuracy. I don’t think I’ve ever seen as many dump-off into the flats, where the back had to elevate for the ball and put themselves in very unfavorable positions, than what I saw from Franks at Florida.

Thankfully, he has cleaned that up mostly. However, he is still rather slow as a processor and is late on plenty of throws further into the progression. Franks makes some very questionable decisions under pressure, when he can’t set his feet to throw. You see some forced balls to the sideline and down the field, where defenders have a better chance at making the grab.

A bone-headed interception late in the 2019 season-opener with the Gators against Miami comes in mind, which almost cost them the game. There’s too much schoolyard-type of running around, when nobody is open in the pattern, instead of getting rid of the ball, and you see a lot of passes sail on him, when he releases with parallel feet, as there’s not a lot of space to step into. Because of how wide he gets with the ball when loading up throws and how that also applies to when he pulls the ball down again, Franks gives edge rushers easy chances to strip the ball, which is illustrated by 20 career fumbles.

At Senior Bowl practices, Feleipe Franks routinely held onto the ball too long in the pocket and would have gotten crushed if there was full contact. He needs to keep getting faster with his recognition and throwing process. Kind of similar to Texas A&M’s Kellen Mond, Franks changed my mind about him a lot last season.

There are still plenty of issues with poor decisions, when he doesn’t confidently step into throws and he would certainly benefit from tightening up his release, but unlike some of these other names in this area, I think with his arm talent and athleticism, he offers starter traits, which I would like to see an NFL team invest in as a day three target, if they have the room to have him sit and learn for a couple of years.