Buster Faulkner goes over Florida's offense after Orange and Blue Game

Florida offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner broke down performances from each position group on his side of the ball after the Orange and Blue Game Saturday.

Faulkner admitted that both quarterbacks competing for the starting spot made mistakes, but he liked the bounceback from them. Florida's coaching staff decided to test its offensive line and put them in some uncomfortable situations by design. He called that group the most-improved on the offense.

The wide receivers' room and running backs' room in Gainesville are loaded with talent, and Faulkner listed some of the depth guys he's been impressed with so far. Finally, Faulkner finished things by going over his tight ends' room, noting that they have multiple guys who can function in different roles.

Buster Faulkner on offensive performance

"Today, we kept it very simple for the guys and wanted to go out there and play fast. Try not to show too much, but overall, I was impressed with the way we lined up. I was really worried about our operation coming in — just being really the first time that we've been able to be in front of a group, in front of a crowd, have real referees, us signaling and doing the things that we want to be able to do at the pace we want to be able to do it at. I thought our guys did that at a high level, and that's pretty good to see.

"Overall, it's one of the 15 days of practice that we've had, and we'll look at everything. It's really the body of work that is what matters, but I was pleased. We started out a little slower than I wanted to, but it was a good day for us."

On stretching the field, over-the-top plays

"Well, that's something we want to be able to do. We want to be able to push the ball down the field. Like I said, today was very, very generic with what we want to do offensively. We said that coming in, and yeah, we did throw it down the field some. But that's going to be a part of the offense. We want to be able to throw it down the field. We want to be able to go sideways. We want to be able to run it. We want to be able to do it all when it's all said and done. But it was good to see we were able to connect on a few deep balls."

On quarterback play

Aaron Philo, interceptions

"One thing about him is he'll shrug them off. I can assure you. The first one, the safety made an unbelievable play. I was actually looking downfield like, this is fixing to hit. It was an RPO, and the guy made a great play. So that was a tough one. The second one, it looked like we may have had a little pressure, and he probably should have slid in the pocket before he threw. It was a little bit behind him. One thing I know about the guy, he'll shake it off.

"Look, every quarterback, I tell him, hey, you're going to throw picks, but we're going to keep throwing it. But he came back and made some elite throws, which is what he always does. So I was impressed with the way he handled that."

Tramell Jones

"Same thing. He missed a couple of things early that may have led to us not getting the first down, but came back, bounced back through two big completions, had some big plays. I was impressed with both of them. They both came in, did really good job. Like I said, it's a body of work of everything that we've done over the last 15 days. Today was just a small sample size of what I think both of them can be.

Aidan Warner and Will Griffin

"And then the same thing with the other two guys, right? Aidan Warner is a guy that's played a little football, and I thought the back half of spring really has made — could make a run at this thing. And then Will Griffin's a super talented freshman that we're really excited about. We've got to find ways to get him reps throughout the course of the summer.

"It's a good room. They're eager. Coach Craddock does a great job. We've got a great staff of quarterback coaches, which that's very important to me. Start with Joe Craddock and then, obviously, we got Steve Spurrier Jr. in there and then AJ Erdely, who's been a guy that knows the offense. We're going to spend a lot of time with those guys over the next several months."

On the offensive line handling assignments

"Like I said, one thing about what we did today is we were going to throw it around a bunch. It's hard to get those reps throughout the course of practice. So, we were putting them in tough situations all day, and that was by design. One thing we needed to work on was pass protection. I thought, for the most part — I have to get back in and watch the film — it was okay. We do have a lot of moving parts up front right now. Still trying to figure out the best five. I think we've got some guys that can do guard and tackle, which is exciting.

"I will say that that group is the most improved group of the spring practice from the time we got here to where they're at now. What Phil's done with those guys from an individual and a fundamental standpoint has been phenomenal. So I look forward to what that's going to look like 145 days from now."

On transfer wide receivers

"We've got some speed there for sure. I like six, seven guys in that room are playing really good football. The hard part for us is going to be making sure they all get a chance to touch the football. So, not to mention, I think our running backs are really good as well. I was pleased with all of them.

"Same thing. From where they've came, just from learning the offense from the time we got here to now. I think we're almost a year in to where I would want them to be. So that's exciting. We're still young, haven't played a lot of football at that position. So for us to get out there today with people in the crowd, we got a little bit of noise and all that stuff. For them to be able to go execute the way they did, I was impressed with that."

On speed on offense

"Yeah, you saw it firsthand. We've got some guys that can run. So I think it's very important that we make sure we do a good job of putting them in a position to be successful. The good thing about it is we can roll about six guys, seven guys at you at the receiver position. Haven't had a chance to work with Dallas yet, but I can't wait to get him back at some point. That's only going to add to the firepower that we want to have out there.

"We've got a long way to go, but we've got 145 days, and we're going to use every one of those days to make sure we're trying to get better for the University of Florida."

On running backs

"Obviously, Jadan has had a great start to his career here, that's for sure. But Duke Clark is a guy that flashes every time you flip the film on, and you watch his explosiveness. I think he's got a chance to be really good. Evan Pryor, every scrimmage has been elite with the ball in his hands. London, Montgomery, he's done the same thing. So all those guys have been really good. Byron Lewis, every scrimmage is kind of the same way. When he gets a chance, he gets his number called, he makes plays.

"I really like the room. I think it's a really deep room. I think we've got some guys with some different skill sets. You can see some two-back stuff, maybe down the road. But yeah, obviously Jadan was more kind of on the pitch count. We want to see what some of those other guys would do, but I was impressed with them as well."

On tight ends

"Starting with Luke Harpring and Amir Jackson, both of those guys are extremely versatile. They add a different element to the room, being able to stretch the field vertically. Also, you saw a bunch of them catch some balls in the flats today. They can do that, and they both can run. They're more of your spread, guys.

"Then we've got a couple other guys, Evan Chieca and Lacota Dippre, that have been extremely physical. We like the way that they're learning the offense. Luke has obviously been in the offense, and Amir was here.

"So we've got a lot of moving parts, really, in that room. All different skill sets. You'll see all those guys on the field. But the two that really stuck out this spring were Amir and Luke, as far as what they can do in the passing game and so forth."

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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida OC Buster Faulkner quotes Orange and Blue Game