The University of Florida has produced some of the best quarterback talent in football over the past 25 years, including three players who land on ESPN's list of the top signal callers of the 2000s.
ESPN writer Bill Connelly puts together the list annually, and Florida legends Tim Tebow, Rex Grossman and Kyle Trask have been mainstays for years. The newest additions to the "ever-expanding list" include Heisman finalists Dillon Gabriel (Oregon) and Cam Ward (Miami), as well as Colorado's Shadeur Sanders, Indiana's Kurtis Rourke and Ole Miss' Jaxson Dart.
The expectation is for Florida to add a fourth player to this list in a few years, assuming DJ Lagway remains on the same path. Lagway was one of the most exciting arm talents in the country last season and he's only a rising sophomore. With Heisman hopes through the roof, could Lagway supplant Tebow as the highest-ranked Gator on this list sometime in the near future?
No. 4 Tim Tebow (2006-09)
Stats: 9,285 passing yards, 66% completion rate, 88 TD, 16 INT, 2,947 rushing yards, 57 rushing TD.
Near the top of the list is the name everyone expects: Timothy Richard Tebow. The Gators legend led the program to two BCS national championships (2006, 2008) and won the Heisman trophy in 2007. Tebow checks in at No. 4 on ESPN's list behind Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield, Auburn's Cam Newton and Texas' Vince Young.
"In 2006, Tebow served as short-yardage back and scary red zone passing option as Florida won the national title," Connelly wrote. "In 2007, he posted 4,181 combined rushing and passing yards and won the Heisman. In 2008, he gave an immortal speech and led the Gators to a 13-1 record and second title. In 2009, he led the Gators to another 13-1 record, posted 3,805 rushing and passing yards and finished in the Heisman top five for a third straight year. It's almost impossible to put together a career more complete than that."
Perhaps the embodiment of "it's great to be a Florida Gator," Tebow will always be the blueprint for what an elite UF quarterback should look like, both on and off the field.
No. 35 Rex Grossman (2000-02)
Stats: 9,164 passing yards, 61% completion rate, 77 TD, 36 INT, 6 rushing TD.
Sexy Rexy was the first great Gators quarterback of the millennium. He burst onto the scene with a loud freshman year, throwing for 1,866 yards and 21 touchdowns, and never looked back. Grossman strung together nine straight 300-yard games in 2001 and nearly won the Heisman while claiming AP National Player of the Year. The numbers dipped a bit in his junior year, but Grossman went on to play nine years in the NFL after that.
"His résumé was almost a lot better: He lost the 2001 Heisman vote to Crouch by just 62 points, and his Gators came up two points short of a BCS title game bid the same year. Still, he left a legacy as the last great Steve Spurrier QB."
Grossman left Florida with the third-most passing yards in program history and now sits at No. 5 on that list. Chris Leak (No. 1) and Tim Tebow (No. 4) have finished their careers with more since. Grossman's 3,896 passing yards in 2001 was a program record until Trask broke the record in 2020 with 4,283.
He followed a similar pattern with passing touchdowns, ending his career at No. 2 on the all-time list behind Danny Wuerffel, only to be beaten out by Leak and Tebow — both finished with 88 to Grossman's 77. Grossman's 34 passing touchdowns in 2001 were the third-most by a Gator in a single season. Danny Wuerffel held the top two spots ...
