As FSU football spring camp is concluding, here’s a look at how we predict the ‘Noles depth chart will shake out heading into the summer.
The fun things about FSU spring football is looking at how some of the position battles are unfolding and trying to project who the starters will be.
We don’t have any crystal balls and there’s a ton of talent on the roster. In some cases, there’s no such thing as a “starter” because FSU uses lots of rotations and situational players.
Here’s how we think things could potentially shake out as spring camp ends:
Quarterback
Projected Starter: Deondre Francois
Back Up: Bailey Hockman
Backup #2: JJ Cosentino
Likely Redshirt: James Blackman
FSU football will have Francois back under center in 2017 after a very good redshirt freshman season that saw him capture ACC Player of the Year honors.
It’s not even a race as he’s competing against what he did last season.
The real battle is the backup position. Four-star early enrollee and true freshman Bailey Hockman is vying to take over the backup position as redshirt junior JJ Cosentino tries to stay relevant.
Walk-on Jake Rizzo is in the mix too as all of them saw reps in the spring game on Saturday.
If I had my choice, I’d already make Hockman the backup in the event that Francois went down with an injury or had to miss a game. He looked more poised than Cosentino and made some good throws while also showing some mobility in the pocket against pressure.
The biggest hurdle is how much of the offense can he grasp and feel comfortable with. As the son of a coach, he’s been around the game a long time and the word is he’s ahead of schedule.
Running Back
Projected Starter: Jacques Patrick
Back Up: Cam Akers
Rotation: Amir Rasul, Gabe Nabers (Fullback)
Reserve: Jonathan Vickers, Ryan Green, Khalan Laborn, Zaquandre White,
Listen, I expect both Jacques Patrick and Cam Akers to get the majority of the carries this season. I think Patrick will likely begin the season as the starter with Akers solidifying himself as the season progresses.
Against a defense like Alabama, I think we’ll see Patrick in the starting role as he should be more advanced when it comes to pass protections. We could see him start the game and then Akers come in as a change of pace.
It’s also possible that Akers could start later in the season, and Patrick come and finish teams off as they’re gassed in the third and fourth quarters with his bruising style. Either way, it’s a great problem to have for FSU football.
I do think Amir Rasul will get more than six carries this season, but it could be easy for him to get lost in the shuffle with Khalan Laborn(if he qualifies) and Zaquandre White coming in this summer.
He will have more experience in the offense than those too which should favor him getting on the field first. Jonathan Vickers and Ryan Green are talented, but there just isn’t enough footballs to go around in this talented backfield.
Wide Receivers
Projected Starter: Auden Tate, Noonie Murray (slot), Keith Gavin
Rotation: Da’Vante Phillips, George Campbell
Rotation: DJ Matthews, Tamorrion Terry
The FSU football spring saw the effect of only signing one receiver in the 2016 class after losing three receivers from a year ago.
Auden Tate and Keith Gavin have been banged up much of the spring, so that led to Da’Vante Phillips getting a chance to shine in the spring game.
He performed well, but lacked consistency with a couple of drops, and also slowed down on some routes where the pass could have been caught.
The trio of Tate, Murray and Gavin will be formidable and arguably one of most talented groups of receivers FSU has had in quite some time.
If George Campbell can ever get healthy and contribute the passing attack would be that much better. True freshmen DJ Matthews and Tamorrion Terry should arrive this summer.
Matthews is talented enough to get on the field in certain situations and is an absolute playmaker. I don’t expect Terry to contribute much this season, but he’s big receiver that’s talented who could emerge next season.
Tight End
Projected Starter: Ryan Izzo
Back Up: Mavin Saunders
Rotation: Tre McKitty, Naseir Upshur
Redshirt: Alexander Marshall
Redshirt junior Ryan Izzo remains the top choice to start at tight end in 2017. Izzo is the best combination of run blocker and pass catcher at the position and saw a bit more production in the passing game last season than the previous year.
Mavin Saunders saw an increased role last season and could make the next step this season. He’s a big athletic tight end, but not quite the run blocker Izzo is at this point.
True freshman and early enrollee Tre McKitty could see playing time this season because of the shortage of wide receivers on the roster.
He’s huge and would create mismatches against smaller defensive backs and linebackers. We could see more tight ends flexed out wide formations to take advantage of this group. Naseir Upshur will look to contribute in his sophomore season after using last season learning the offense.
I expect Alexander Marshall to possibly redshirt, although it’s possible he doesn’t since Upshur didn’t last season.
Offensive Line
Left Tackle: Rick Leonard, Josh Ball(Back up)
Left Guard: Landon Dickerson, Derrick Kelly (Back up)
Right Guard: Cole Minshew, David Robbins (Back up)
Right Tackle: Brock Ruble, Ethan Frith (Back Up)
Center: Alec Eberle, Baveon Johnson (Back up), Andrew Boselli (Back up)
The FSU offensive line is the most difficult unit to predict due to the number of current injuries.
Alec Eberle has missed all spring and Landon Dickerson is still recovering from his ACL injury suffered last year. Ethan Frith has been playing all spring on a bum ankle as well.
The good news is that Rick Leonard can play either left or right tackle. Cole Minshew had played left and right guard in the past as well.
Dickerson will start no question as long as he can fully recover from the ACL injury. However, Kelly is a serviceable replacement IF he is fully healthy( he wasn’t last season and it showed).
I have Alec Eberle listed as the starting center, but it’s quite possible for Baveon Johnson or Andrew Boselli to unseat him as he’s out recovering from off-season surgery.
All in all, there’s experience and players that can play multiple positions along the line. It’s time for this unit to finally be a strong suit on the team.
Linebackers
Starters: Matthew Thomas, Ro’Derrick Hoskins
Rotation: Dontavious Jackson, Emmett Rice, Adonis Thomas Sh’Mar Kilby-Lane, Josh Brown
The linebacker position has been a problem area for a number of years due to injuries and players either transferring or missing on recruits.
FSU football finally has good depth at the position with redshirt senior Matthew Thomas and redshirt senior Ro’Derrick Hoskins returning as starters this season.
Thomas came on strong the latter part of 2016 and looked like the all-world linebacker recruit FSU recruited out of high school. Hoskins played OK at times last season, but could see his reps decrease with the emergence of sophomores Donatvious Jackson, Emmett Rice and Josh Brown.
Not to mention JUCO linebacker Adonis Thomas who enrolled early this spring. He’s familiar with the scheme as he came from Alabama and should make an impact early.
Sh’Mar Kilby-Lane returns from being academically ineligible, but has missed valuable time with an injury this spring. He very well could be passed up in the rotation, especially if FSU plays a lot of nickel with only two linebackers.
Josh Brown in a player Jimbo Fisher raved about last spring, but he got lost in the shuffle somehow last season. It’ll be interesting to see if he can separate himself if opportunities present themselves.
Let’s not forget four-star linebacker Leonard Warner who’ll be arriving at FSU football this summer.
Defensive Line
Starters
DE-Jalen Wilkerson, Brian Burns(Passing Situations Sub), Joshua Kaindoh (Back Up), Janarius Robinson (Back Up)
DT-Demarcus Christmas, Walvenski Aime (Back up), Arthur Williams (Back up), Cedric Wood (Back up), Darvin Taylor (Back up)
NG-Derrick Nnadi, Fred Jones (Back up)
Buck-Josh Sweat, Jacob Pugh (Back Up)
One of the best defensive fronts in the country along with Clemson. If Brian Burns can be effective against the run, he’ll be on the field more times than not as he’s a lethal pass rusher.
Christmas and Nnadi return from last season as starters along with Josh Sweat who came on strong at the end of the season.
It’ll be hard to replace DeMarcus Walker and end but Wilkerson and Robinson have improved since last season. There will be a lot of depth on this line, not counting five-star Marvin Wilson, Ja’Len Parks and Cory Durden who’ll be here this summer.
Also, true freshmen defensive end Tre Lawson will be here this summer.
Defensive Backs
Starters
Boundary Corner-Tarvarus McFadden, Stanford Samuels II, (Back up), Marcus Lewis (Back up)
Field Corner- Kyle Meyers, Levonta Taylor (Back up),
Strong Safety-Carlos Becker, Ermon Lane (Back up), Cyrus Fagan (Back up)
Free Safety-Derwin James, AJ Westbrook (Back up)
Star-Trey Marshall, Levonta Taylor (Back up)
One of the most talented units in college football. There’s no question Tarvarus McFadden will start at the boundary corner position even though he has missed all spring recovering from a shoulder injury.
True freshman and early enrollee Stanford Samuels II has had an excellent spring and has the size/length to play the position too.
There’s no question Derwin James will be the starter at free safety this fall, and will lineup all over the place to take advantage of his ability. Westbrook played a lot last season after James went down, and got better as the season progressed.
Battles
The biggest questions are at field corner and strong safety. The good thing is there is a plethora of talent and combinations that will be used this season. There are lots of interchangeable parts based on matchups that FSU football will look to take advantage of.
Kyle Meyers has stood out to me and would be starting at field corner based on what I’ve seen thus far. Levonta Taylor is right there, but Meyers is a bit longer and has played better overall this spring.
Marcus Lewis has been out all spring with an injury, but probably is better as boundary corner than star or safety.
Carlos Becker has lined up at both safety and cornerback, a nice piece to have for depth who came on strong at the end of last season. Ermon Lane missed most of the spring and didn’t have a great spring game while also still learning the safety position.
I have Marshall at star because of his physicality against the run, and Taylor has been working out there as well.
Let’s not forget about four-star safety Hamsah Nasrildeen who’ll be at FSU this summer too.
Lots of possible combinations in the secondary, and I’m sure some players will be at multiple positions.
Special Teams
Starters
Punter-Logan Tyler
PK-Ricky Aquayo
No changes from last season here. However, what the ‘Noles need the most from these two is consistency.
According to Jimbo Fisher, Logan Tyler has had a good spring and it showed a bit in the spring game. He starting nailing some punts after a couple of shaky ones early in the game.
Fisher has said that Aguayo needs to be more consistent this spring and it showed Saturday. He missed a kick from just over 40 yards, but did rebound to nail one from over 50 yards in the spring game.
Next: FSU Football: Is 2017 Team More Talented Than 2013 National Title Team?
Special teams were not a bright spot in 2016 as they were ranked among the worst in all of college football.
Here’s to hoping this tandem can become a strength of the team in 2017.