FSU Football’s Top Questions Heading Into Spring Game: No. 1
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. 1 – Can Cam Akers do enough to put himself in the starting lineup at running back?
We talked about this a little on Wednesday when mentioning which early enrollee could do the most this spring, but the growing consensus among those covering the Seminoles this spring is that the spot is becoming Akers’ to lose – and so far, he hasn’t done much to give coaches a reason to take it away.
After nearly of three years watching Dalvin Cook be magical in the backfield for FSU football, there was some worry of a potential drop off at that spot – whether it was Jacques Patrick, Akers or any other candidate. The top prep star from the state of Mississippi last year, Akers has a lot of the same intangibles as Cook did – size, speed on the outside and strength in the middle.
It’s the world’s worst kept secret that Jimbo Fisher loves to play freshman early on in their careers with the Seminoles, so even if he doesn’t start the opener against Alabama it won’t be long before you see Akers on the field and eventually in the starting lineup. Saturday, he will be given the chance to put a lock on that position against a much better defense – in front of the national televised world getting a chance to see if he is the real deal.
If Akers can cement his spot as the top back on the roster even before Khalan Laborn, the top player from Virginia, can get to campus this summer, it will be interesting to see how Fisher and the coaching staff handle the overflowing amount of talent at the position – while convincing Dalvin’s brother, James Cook, to stick to his verbal commitment to the Seminoles for the 2018 class.