Where Aaron Philo ranks on The Athletic's college football QB tiers

Florida football saw a great deal of change since the end of last season, including the departure of Billy Napier and the hiring of Jon Sumrall, as well as a new play caller taking over the quarterback position.

While the final decision is not yet set in stone, it is presumed that Aaron Philo — who arrived in Gainesville through the transfer portal to join his previous offensive coordinator at Georgia Tech, Buster Faulkner — will be lining up under center to start the season. The redshirt sophomore has the upper hand on redshirt freshman Tramell Jones Jr., who served as the primary backup last year, and true freshman Will Griffin heading to the opener of the 2026 campaign.

With that in mind, The Athletic's college football writers Antonio Morales and Sam Khan Jr. recently ranked every projected starter at the position from 1 to 138, organizing them all into seven distinct tiers. Philo finds himself ranked No. 55, which puts him in Tier 4 — right in the middle of the pack.

"Philo saw limited snaps (63 in 2025) while backing up Haynes King at Georgia Tech, so there’s still much to learn. He has been effective in his limited duty, accounting for 29 explosive plays in his 180 career snaps (a 3.4% explosive play rate would be top 30 nationally if sustained over starter snaps)," they said.

“I think he’s a really good player,” one SEC assistant said. “The thing about him is he needs a lot of help. He’s not a runner. He’s not going to go out there and win the game himself, but he’ll make the easy throws if guys are open.”

So what does it mean that Philo is in the fourth tier?

"Some of (them are the) stars of tomorrow, like inexperienced QBs who coaches believe in but lack a proven resume, and there are also veterans who are looking to redeem themselves and journeymen looking to make the most of their last stops," the authors explain.

Hopefully, Philo proves himself to be relevant to the first part of that entry. The Gator Nation will find out exactly what they have on their hands when the Orange and Blue open the schedule against the FAU Owls on Saturday, Sept. 5, inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Where Aaron Philo ranks on The Athletic's college football QB tiers