The FSU football passing attack wasn’t as profound in 2015 compared to the two proceeding years. FSU has a ton of depth at receiver this year so is it possible that we see a rotation in 2016?
Jimbo Fisher went with a wide receiver rotation early in 2011 that resulted in seven receivers having 12 or more receptions. That season seemed to lack any real consistency as Rashad Greene led all receivers with 38 receptions.
The 2012 season saw five receivers with 27 or more receptions and a slew of receptions to the running backs.
The consistency was a bit better that year, but there still seemed to be times that the passing offense absolutely stalled out.
To be fair, those two years did feature some turmoil at the QB position with EJ Manuel being hurt for much of 2011 and then just not being a great passing QB in 2012.
The 2013 season featured a steady diet of three receivers that did most of the damage in Rashad Greene, Kelvin Benjamin and Kenny Shaw. They also had the best QB in the history of FSU football throwing to them in Jameis Winston, but that offense went on to average over 50 points per game.
So history has shown us that a Jimbo Fisher offense with three established receivers can be very good. That goes for most offenses.
The ‘Noles have three proven wide receivers returning to the offense in Travis Rudolph, Kermit Whitfield and Jesus “Bobo” Wilson.
The trio accounts for 66 percent of the receptions a year ago, 70 percent of the receiving yards and 73 percent of the passing touchdowns.
That’s huge as far as continuity, but the passing attack struggled in the red zone last season due to a lack of size and physicality to win battles in tight quarters.
The fourth highest total went to Dalvin Cook with 24 receptions and Ryan Izzo with 14 receptions.
FSU has a slew of talented receivers that haven’t panned out to this point or have been bitten by the injury bug too much in their careers. Those receivers could be primed to contribute this season.
Players like the highlight touted recruit Ermon Lane who’s going into his third season in make or break mode. Auden Tate who showed out in the spring game and seems to have great chemistry with Deondre Francois.
Highly touted five-star redshirt freshman George Campbell is in the mix as a big receiver who could contribute in the red zone.
Then there’s Ja’Von “Pig” Harrison, Nyqwan Murray and D’Vante Phillips who are looking to get in the mix.
That’s nine wide receivers and things could get interesting if some of these guys begin to emerge in fall camp.
Should Fisher go with the smaller, but proven commodities with a green quarterback like Deondre Francois? Should he go with a mixture of the proven receivers (Rudolph, Whitfield, Wilson) and mix in big receivers like Auden Tate or George Campbell in red zone situations.
Will Auden Tate or Campbell supplant Ermon Lane, or will Lane finally become the productive receiver most thought he would be?
Lane has shown that he’s an excellent run blocker, but was virtually invisible in the passing game last season.
must read: Top 5 Improvements FSU Offense Needs To Be Elite in 2016
It’ll be interesting to see how this pans out in the fall. The FSU offense needs more “changing numbers on the scoreboard” production from the wide receivers in 2016 if they want to be elite.
Stay tuned to Chop Chat as FSU football fall camp begins next week and we begin to get reports on who could possibly emerge as a big contributor.