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FSU football faced a tough slate of offenses early in 2016. Will that change in 2017?
The ‘Noles will likely face six or more teams that will make bowl games in 2017, which means these teams will feature talented players on offense and defense.
In this particular piece we’ll be highlighting the five best offensive players that FSU football will face in 2017.
Luckily for FSU football they will be fielding what is expected to be one of the best defenses in the nation. They finished with the No. 10 ranked defense according to S&P stats in 2016, and return key starters at every level of the defense.
The defensive line and the secondary are considered to be among the top four or five units in the nation.
There are some excellent players on the slate and we could have named more players, but we wanted to give you the five that could be someone to keep an eye on as FSU football works its way down the schedule.
Let’s get into it.
Jaylen Samuels-NC State
NC State’s do it all player on offense is senior tight end Jaylen Samuels. He led the Wolfpack with 55 receptions and seven touchdowns in 2016.
He’s also a player NC State likes to use in the run game, particularly in the redzone as he had 33 rushes for 189 yards with six touchdowns.
Samuels was held in check last season against the ‘Noles, but attention to him allowed little known running back Nyheim Hines to go wild with 11 receptions and 124 yards.
Samuels finished the game with 60 yards on seven touches which is still over eight yards per play.
This season will be NC State’s second year with their offensive coordinator who came from Boise State.
I expect they’ll have some designed plays specifically for Samuels as they look to create mismatches in space.
The question will be if quarterback Ryan Finley can get him the ball as he struggled in conference play for the most part last season.
Jaylen Hurts-Alabama
Alabama’s Jaylen Hurts will face the ‘Noles in the first game of the season. Hurts has a similar game to FSU football quarterback Deondre Francois.
Francois is a better passer overall, but Hurts is probably the better runner while being used more a as runner in Alabama’s offense.
He’ll be a tough test for the ‘Noles who have struggled against mobile quarterbacks in the past. Not to mention Alabama has a new offensive coordinator, so there’s an unknown factor with how they’ll try to attack this season.
Hurts finished with 2,780 yards passing and had nearly 1,000 yards rushing last season while scoring 13 times on the ground.
The key for the FSU defense will be can they stop the run and force the inaccurate Hurts to try to beat them downfield with his arm.
If they can do that they’ll have a good shot at upsetting the Crimson Tide on September 2.
Deon Cain-Clemson
Deon Cain is similar to Jaylen Samuels of NC State in that he can attract attention that will open things up for other players on the Clemson offense.
He’s the deep threat for the Tigers who had 38 receptions for 724 yards and nine touchdowns in 2016.
That’s averaging 19.1 yards per catch ladies and gentlemen.
Like a lot of past Clemson receivers, Cain is extremely physical who can climb the ladder and high point the ball against tight coverage.
He was held in check last year against the ‘Noles with only two receptions, but still had 69 yards receiving in the game.
He’s the vertical threat that allows players like Hunter Renfrow to operate in space underneath.
Now the Tigers lost the best quarterback in Clemson history in Deshaun Watson, so it’ll be interesting to see how that impacts the Clemson attack since Watson is the only quarterback Cain has played with while there.
He has come up with explosive plays against the ‘Noles the past two years, so he’ll definitely be a player to keep an eye on.
Calvin Ridley-Alabama
Alabama’s Calvin Ridley is projected to be the top wide receiver taking in the 2018 NFL Draft. Like the aforementioned Deon Cain, Ridley can do it but has been more productive over the last two seasons.
Ridley finished the 2016 season with 72 receptions for 769 yards and seven touchdowns. He can attack in all three phases of the passing game as evident in the highlights below.
Ridley was held in check in a number of games last season, but that was likely to do having a true freshman quarterback under center that only completed 62 percent of his passes.
The ‘Noles secondary will have their hands full as Alabama will look to pound the ball on the ground, then playaction off that attacking vertically downfield.
As we mentioned with Hurts, if the ‘Noles can limit the run game they can also nullify the effectiveness of Ridley.
Lamar Jackson-Louisville
It should be no surprise Lamar Jackson is No. 1 on this list after he obliterated the FSU football defense last year. He led the Louisville offense to 69 points, the most a FSU defense has ever given up in its history.
It was foreshadowing of things to come as he went on to have an outstanding season, winning the Heisman Trophy while setting all kinds of school records.
Jackson had 216 yards passing and 146 yards rushing with FOUR rushing touchdowns.
Not to make excuses, but the FSU football defense wasn’t at full strength against Louisville. Josh Sweat, Derwin James and Derrick Nnadi were either not 100 percent or not on the field.
The ‘Noles did a good job of containing Jackson his freshman year. Footage on how to slow him down became available late last season as Louisville’s season hit the skids.
Next: Will FSU feature a run heavy offense in 2017?
When he’s on, there’s no question he can be the most electric player in college football.