FSU Football: Can Deondre Francois pass for 4,000 yards in 2017?

FSU football quarterback Deondre Francois had a fantastic season as a first year starter in 2016.

FSU football is picked by many to win the ACC Conference and contend for a national title in 2017. A lot of those expectations come because of the return of redshirt sophomore quarterback Deondre Francois.

He was the ACC Rookie of the Year in 2016, and FSU football returns arguably its most talented group of wide receivers in the Jimbo Fisher era.

Francois finished the season with the following stats lines:

• Completion percentage: 58.5
• Yards passing: 3,350
• Pass attempts: 400
• Pass completions: 235
• Games: 13

I’m not concerned with touchdowns and interceptions in this piece, we’re looking solely at passing yardage.

Factors last season

Last season saw Francois thrown into the fire against eight top 25 defenses and his inexperience showed at times. However, he was able to make a lot of plays, in particular on third downs throughout the season.

The offensive line was abysmal, and Francois was throwing to receivers that provided small targets for the most part. He did have Dalvin Cook in the running game to help alleviate a lot of the burden of putting points on the board.

However, the ‘Noles made a habit of getting behind early and having to come back to win games for the third year in a row. This led Francois to being only the second quarterback in the Fisher era to attempt 400 or more passes in a season where he averaged 257 passing yards per game.

Can Francois pass for 4,000 yards in 2017?

Well, Francois had some big games in 2016. He surpassed the 400 yards once and 300 yards four times. However, he had four games where he didn’t surpass the 200 yard mark.

One thing to consider is Dalvin Cook is gone, so Jimbo Fisher may be forced to put it in the air more if the running game isn’t as explosive as years past.

Also, if FSU wins the ACC as many predict, they’ll play a minimum of 14 games(including a bowl game). If Francois averages the same amount per game as last year, that would put him at 3,598 over those 14 games.

However, let’s project Francois will improve his accuracy from 58.5 percent to around 63 percent. Let’s project FSU will be able to attack the field vertically more efficiently with the huge receiving corps in 2017.

If FSU were to win the ACC and play in a bowl game, Francois would need to average 286 yards per game to reach the 4,000 mark.

Next: Can FSU Win A National Title With Deondre Francois At QB?

That’s an 11.2 percent increase per game compared to last season. Do you think he has it in him? Will Jimbo Fisher take the conservative approach and rely on the running game and a defense that’s supposed to be elite?

Give us your thoughts!