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FSU Football: Will ‘Noles feature a top 10 offense in 2017?

By Kelvin Hunt

Oct 29, 2016; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles quarterback Deondre Francois (12) walks off the field after the loss to the Clemson Tigers at Doak Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 29, 2016; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles quarterback Deondre Francois (12) walks off the field after the loss to the Clemson Tigers at Doak Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports /
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FSU football has typically been one of the better offenses in the nation under Jimbo Fisher. Will the ‘Noles feature a top 10 offense in 2017?

It’s a great question. FSU football returns a lot of talent for 2017, but also lost key contributors from last years squad that finished No. 2 in S&P + advanced metrics.

Dalvin Cook, Travis Rudolph, Kermit Whitfield, Bob Wilson are gone and the offense line will have a couple of new faces too.

Bleacherreport.com’s David Kenyon believes the ‘Noles will be one of the top 25 offenses in the nation. However, he doesn’t have them as a top 10 offense, instead listing them at No. 22.

"2017 projection: Florida State will lean heavily on underclassmen and 2016 backups at the skill positions, but Francois will command the offense like a veteran. Similar to San Diego State and LSU, the Seminoles will be built on efficiency more than explosiveness."

Thoughts

That’s probably fair as a lot of FSU’s production will hinge on the potential of some inexperienced players. Running back Cam Akers and receiver Keith Gavin in particular will be counted on heavily to offset the losses of Dalvin Cook and Travis Rudolph.

Akers is the five-star back out of Mississippi who was an early enrollee, and Gavin was the lone high four-star receiver taken in the 2016 recruiting cycle. He played a lot as a true freshman, but didn’t log a single reception all season.

FSU football was good to elite in a few important categories that lead to having great offense last season:

  • third down conversions-(43.79 percent, No. 33 nationally)
  • red zone scoring- (96.49 percent, No. 1 nationally) (red zone touchdowns 77.19, No. 3 nationally)
  • explosive plays-No. 7 nationally with 241 plays of 10+ yards gained

The FSU football offense was efficient and explosive minus the 20 turnovers. The potential is there for FSU to replicate these efforts in 2017.

Akers may not be Dalvin Cook out the gates, but seems to have a similar skill set. Francois will have larger receivers to through to which could help with the accuracy he needs to improve upon.

Next: Grading The Entire 2016 Offense

The offensive line has the potential to be better in 2017, as it was atrocious in the early part of 2016 before playing well late in the season.

The key word here is potential when it comes to the offense, but that can be said for every college football team right?

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