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Willie Taggart: Leadership is key to winning quarterback job?

By Kelvin Hunt

TALLAHASSEE, FL - OCTOBER 7: Doak S. Campbell Stadium during the first half of an NCAA football game at Doak S. Campbell Stadium on October 7, 2017 in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by Butch Dill/Getty Images)
TALLAHASSEE, FL - OCTOBER 7: Doak S. Campbell Stadium during the first half of an NCAA football game at Doak S. Campbell Stadium on October 7, 2017 in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by Butch Dill/Getty Images) /
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FSU football will have three man fight for the quarterback job going into fall camp.

One of the biggest questions for FSU football going into the 2018 season will be who will be the starting quarterback.

It was a no brainer going into 2017 with Deondre Francois as the only experienced quarterback on the roster.

However, things have changed drastically since he was injured in the first game of the season against Alabama. He began rehab and true freshman James Blackman stepped in a no-win situation to perform admirably in the midst of a coaching staff that checked out.

He got just as much as experience as Deondre Francois did the previous season and true freshman Bailey Hockman got a chance to learn for a year in his redshirt freshman season.

Now all three are vying for the starting job with a clean slate under new head coach Willie Taggart. Taggart was on the 1010XL Radio Show Monday morning to talk about his time in Tallahassee thus far.

The entire interview is actually good and can be listened to below(QB talk begins around four-minute mark):

Thoughts on Willie Taggart Interview

There are a couple of things I want FSU football fans to grasp from this interview that we’ve been preaching since the get go.

  • No.1-Willie Taggart doesn’t care if one quarterback can run better than the others.
  • No. 2-The guy that can play, but also who’s ultimately the best leader will be the starting QB.

Which is why I’ve been so high on James Blackman, and I know you’ve read my five reasons why he’ll be Taggart’s QB in 2018 by now.

READ: Top 3 Concerns For FSU Football After Spring Camp

It’s spot on with what Willie Taggart is saying in this interview and was written over three months ago.

Willie Taggart is not going to run the quarterback to death IF the quarterback is a capable passer. He ran Quinton Flowers at USF because he had too as Flowers wasn’t an accurate quarterback.

Deondre Francois isn’t either, and probably why Taggart mentioned him being more of a dual-threat option in the interview.

However, if you had to ask which of the three quarterbacks on the roster displays the best leadership it would have to be James Blackman right?

Francois can’t lead himself off the field so how can he be expected to lead the team on the field? Bailey Hockman doesn’t have the playing experience Blackman does to show he can do it when counts in an actual game.

Are the players going to respond to a guy with game experience that goes to ALL the workouts and puts the time in to get better or other options?

Next: 5 Reasons James Blackman Is Willie Taggart's QB in 2018

That’s why Blackman is the likely starter against Virginia Tech, despite some FSU fans living and dying with what Deondre Francois accomplished in 2016.

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