FSU Football: How Ryan Izzo, Auden Tate leaving hurts Seminoles offense

FSU football will need to fill the tight end and leading receiver spots after Ryan Izzo and Aiuden Tate announced that he was leaving for the NFL.

In the coming weeks, underclassmen across college football who have been in school for at least three years will have to make the decision whether or not they will leave school early for the NFL Draft. FSU football dealt with that before the bowl game, with defensive starters Derwin James, Matthew Thomas and Josh Sweat all leaving the team before the game.

Now, the Seminoles have officially lost their first two offensive players of the Willie Taggart era to the pro game – both crucial piece that no one realizes were going to be so big until they’re gone.

Ryan Izzo

Wednesday, redshirt junior tight end Ryan Izzo announced he was going to forgo his final season and enter April’s draft. It’s an interesting move since the New Jersey native is not listed on a majority of mock draft websites, much less be a top prospect at the position.

With freshman James Blackman under center following the opening game loss to Alabama, Izzo became a comforting target to help the rookie out. After a 2016 season where Izzo had 19 catches for 227 yards and a touchdown, he saw his numbers jump to 20 catches for 317 yards and three touchdowns this season (the last two numbers both ranking him third on the team).

The departure of Izzo comes at a weird time with the team transitioning to a new offense under Taggart.  Add into this the fact that the Seminoles watched their other experienced tight end, Mavin Saunders, leave as a graduate transfer for the Kansas Jayhawks and the tight end position becomes one of question for the Noles.

Where FSU football may lack tight end depth, though, they make up with in talent as the Seminoles still have Naseir Upshur, one of the top recruits in 2016 out of Philadelphia, and Tre’ McKitty, a top 2017 recruit from IMG Academy, on the roster.

Auden Tate

On Saturday, the second big name on offense announced he was heading to the pro game when Auden Tate posted a message on social media saying that his time with the Seminoles was up after three seasons in Tallahassee.

Early on during the Blackman tenure at quarterback for FSU football, Tate became to go to rage for the freshman quarterback and finished the season tied for most catches on the team (40), was second in total yards with 548 on the year and had 10 touchdowns all season – almost half of the 21 total passing touchdowns thrown this season by the Noles.

At 6’5″, Tate was a tall target who reminded fans of names like Kelvin Benjamin in recent years and Andre Cooper from the 1990’s – tall players who can go up and get the jump ball to make life easier for the starting quarterback.

Next: Derwin James sliding down NFL mock draft boards

Tate’s departure makes an already suspect wide receiver group even worse with Nyqwan Murray and Keith Gavin being the only two players with a large amount of experience coming back next season – but it opens the door for a player like D.J. Matthews, who will might for more catches next season as a result.