FSU Football: Deondre Francois talks James Blackman’s freshman year

FSU football has a good problem on its hands with two experienced quarterbacks vying to be the starter in 2018.

The quarterback position is the biggest question for FSU football going into the summer. Will Deondre Francois become fully healthy and be ready to roll by fall camp?

Did Blackman and Bailey Hockman receiving most of the reps in spring camp give them a leg up on Francois?

Willie Taggart has said repeatedly whoever wins the starting job will be more than just a good quarterback. He’s preached leadership and accountability since day one and given his thoughts on what separates each quarterback from one another.

However, it’s interesting to hear the quarterbacks talk about one another. ESPN’s Andrea Adelson had a piece on the quarterback battle with quotes from Taggart, Francois and Blackman.

I wanted to focus on what Francois said about James Blackman:

"“It was hard to see us go through what we were going through, knowing not necessarily I could have done better, but I feel like James — he didn’t have a chance,” Francois said. “He’s a terrific quarterback, but he was fresh out of high school, and Jimbo’s playbook is the most complicated playbook in college football. It’s the same playbook as the NFL. It took me a whole year to hone in on every detail. That’s why the redshirt year is so important in Jimbo’s offense. Me being a quarterback, I’m like, ‘Wow, James only knows a little bit, but he didn’t know the speed of the game … he didn’t even get into the college weight room.’ I felt bad for James knowing what he was going to go through.”"

What I’ve Been Saying

Ahhh, these all are the things I’ve been saying since forever. I understand there some fans want Francois to be the starter and others want Blackman to take the job.

However, most fans don’t understand Blackman’s performance last year can’t be compared to what Francois did his first year as starter.

For the life of me, I’ve been telling people it was apples to oranges comparison. Francois said it himself on how important that redshirt year was for him to prepare for the 2016 season.

Blackman was starting against NC State (with several NFL draft picks on their defensive line) in his first college game less than three months removed from high school.

Now both players are on level playing fields with the same amount of starting experience. Both have proven they can play at a high level.

Next: Did James Blackman Get Better As 2017 Progressed?

Who’s going to be the best leader? Which quarterback can get the players to buy-in and play for them?

It should be an interesting summer for FSU football.