GAINESVILLE — The long pass reached J. Michael Sturdivant’s hands so softly and precisely on the first day of Florida’s summer practices, the veteran receiver wondered who’d thrown it.
When he returned to the huddle, Sturdivant was shocked to learn it was true freshman Tramell Jones Jr.
“That’s when I started to realize that he could really throw it,” Sturdivant recalled this week.
Jones was just getting started. He’s now one snap away from being the Gators’ starter.
The 18-year-old from Jacksonville has quickly won the confidence of teammates, coaches and anyone who watched last Saturday’s season-opening win against Long Island University.
After sophomore star DJ Lagway left the game with a 38-0 halftime lead, Jones stepped in without the offense suffering a drop-off during a 55-0 rout.
“I don’t think he missed very much the other night,” coach Billy Napier said. “The ball went where it was supposed to go every time. Some kids maybe wouldn’t have been able to handle that.
“You guys got to see a little bit of what we’ve been watching in the last couple weeks.”
Florida quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. throws during the Gators’ 55-0 win against Long Island University Aug. 30 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)
Jones’ rise from the bottom of the depth chart — and past veterans Harrison Bailey and Aidan Warner — since the start of fall camp doesn’t surprise Toby Bullock, his high school coach at Jacksonville Mandarin.
Jones entered his freshman season as the Mustang’s fourth-string QB. But an offseason knee injury to Mandarin’s back-up, a bruised shoulder for the starter during a summer showcase, followed by two fumbles by the third-stringer prompted Bullock to give Jones a chance.
On his first play, Jones threw a 70-yard touchdown pass. He scrambled free on a broken play and threw a dime for another score to end Mandarin’s next drive.
“Right then, we were like, we just found our quarterback,” Bullock said. “He started ever since.”
Jones will have to wait his turn at UF behind Lagway, a sophomore star and All-SEC candidate. But Lagway also has experienced injuries since the start of the 2024 season.
Against LIU, he was understandably rusty after a shoulder issue prevented him from throwing in the spring and a calf injury limited for much of fall camp. Entering Saturday’s visit from USF, Napier said UF’s starter has, “No issues. He’s good to go.”
Whatever the future holds, backup quarterbacks have played a critical roles in the past. In 2023, three signal callers played significant snaps, which also happened in 2013 and 2017. In 2014, ’15, ’16, ’19 and ’21, at least two quarterbacks started multiple games for Florida.
If something happens to Lagway, the Gators should be in good hands. One thing is certain: Jones won’t be overwhelmed.
“That’s his super power,” Bullock said. “He has an elite arm, he has an elite brain, he’s a great human being. In the lowest of moments, he’s going to be somebody people can stand on.
“He’s a rock. He’s calm, cool and collected.”
When Mandarin trailed Seminole 24-21 late in the third round of the 2023 Class 4A playoffs, Jones wasn’t fazed. He even suggested the play call for the winning touchdown.
“Everyone was saying, ‘Great call!’” Bullock said. “I said on the news, I didn’t call it, he called it.”
Despite a disappointing loss two games later in the state title game, Jones earned 4A player of the year honors after throwing 33 touchdowns and just 7 interceptions.
He looked even better to start his senior season. But a severe ankle injury in Week 2 stopped Jones in his tracks after he’d completed 19 of his first 21 passes for 439 yards and 5 touchdowns.
“He was slicing people alive,” Bullock said. “The game had just come to a crawl for him. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see the numbers he would put.”
Napier had seen enough and was not going to let Jones get away again.
Florida head football coach Billy Napier coaches quarterbacks DJ Lagway (2) and Tramell Jones Jr. (17) during practice Aug. 14 at the team’s indoor practice facility in Gainesville. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)
When Pahokee star Austin Simmons committed to Florida in April of 2023, Jones did the same at Florida State. After Simmons reclassified and changed his commitment to Ole Miss two months later in June, UF was without a quarterback in its 2025 class until Jones flipped to the Gators a day after their Nov. 16 upset of LSU in the Swamp.
“You get the call that a guy wants to commit and you take him. But that didn’t change our opinion of Tramell,” Napier explained this week. “We’ve always felt strongly about him. So once we got kind of back into that position, the kid had it in his heart he wanted to be here — and we worked it out.”
Lagway led the way during the LSU win. Yet, even though he was the Gators’ quarterback of the future, Jones saw a role for himself in Gainesville.
“He’ll never shy away from a challenge; he believes in his ability,” Bullock said. “Learning behind Lagway is appealing to him. He’s going to constantly push himself, push Lagway.
“He doesn’t worry about competition.”
At 6-foot, 203-pounds Jones lacks the stature of Lagway (6-3, 247) or Miami’s 6-foot-4, 220-pound Carson Beck, who starred at Mandarin while Jones was in middle school.
“He’s right between that big pocket presence guy and mobility guy,” Bullock said.
Jones relies on escapability and the arm strength to produce elite spin rate on the football. His football IQ and temperament are also next level.
“I’m a firm believer that offenses should be like a machine and not rollercoasters,” Bullock said. “No matter what happens you’re doing the same thing. That’s what he is.”
The Gators are seeing what Bullock did for four seasons.
Sturdivant had to do a double-take.
Having played with seven quarterbacks at two schools, including Cal in 2022, and now four more at UF, Sturdivant has pretty much seen it all. Something about Jones is different.
“He’s very calm, especially for a freshman,” Sturdivant, who turns 23 Saturday, said. “It’s very easy to get riled up and get caught up in the moment, get caught up in all the new stuff being thrown at you each and every week. But he’s very level-headed.
“You would think he’s a lot older than he really is.”
Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com
