FSU Football’s Top Questions Heading Into Spring Game: No. 5
By Jason Parker
FSU football will conclude spring drills Saturday with the annual Garnet vs. Gold game – here’s a look at some big questions heading into it.
After weeks of knocking helmets under an increasingly hotter environment in Tallahassee, FSU football will finish up their spring practice schedule this weekend with a scrimmage between the ‘Noles inside Doak Campbell Stadium. After over two hours of football, several big questions should be answered as the team closes up shop until the fall.
After finishing off a 2016 season that started disappointing with a five game winning streak – including another victory over Florida and an Orange Bowl win over Michigan – the Seminoles are already a favorite by some to win the ACC, make the College Football Playoff and make it to the national title game this coming January in Atlanta.
Before any of that can take place, FSU football still has plenty of questions left unanswered. From returning players to newcomers to positions that either shined last year or are in desperate need of help, here’s a look at one of the big questions the Seminoles will look to have answered by the end of Saturday’s showdown between the ‘Noles and…well, the ‘Noles.
Florida State Seminoles Football
No. 5 – After graduations and NFL declarations depleted the unit, who will emerge as the star at wide receiver?
It was a unit that played a lot of different personnel last season, with 12 different players catching a pass for the Seminoles at some point during the year. All of that is going to be important considering the fact that four of the top six pass catchers last season for Florida State are not on the roster anymore.
With Travis Rudolph heading to the NFL to go along with the graduations of Bobo Wilson and Kermit Whitfield, the conventional wisdom says that most of the attention in the passing game will go to rising junior Nyqwan Murray. The Orlando native made a name for himself starting with the Clemson game last year – finishing up 2016 with a two-touchdown performance in the Orange Bowl win.
Fellow junior Auden Tate – a tall target who can go up and get almost any ball thrown to him by Deondre Francois – will join Murray in the starting lineup. Keith Gavin contributed on special teams last year (we all remember that kick return against Michigan) but should see more time in the receiver rotation.
Another player who will see more time in the unit is rising junior and Miami native Da’Vante Phillips – while 2017 signee D.J. Matthews will arrive this summer and compete immediately for playing time.