FSU Football: What should fans expect from La’Damian Webb?

With FSU Football landing a new running back commit, Chop Chat’s Sam Tschida breaks down what fans should expect from La’Damian Webb.

Florida State earned a big commitment on Saturday from JUCO running back La’Damian Webb. A three-star running back coming out of high school, Webb spent a season with Jones County Junior College after originally committing to Mississippi State back in 2018.

With still three seasons of eligibility left, Webb is a welcome addition to FSU’s running back room. We broke down what his commitment means for the program here.

Fans should be excited with another addition to the running back’s room, especially with Webb bringing a whole lot of accolades with him to Tallahassee. He was named a second-team JUCO All-American last season at Jones County, averaging 6.0 yards-per-carry for the Bobcats. In high school, Webb was a high three-star running back who was named Mr. Football in Alabama.

With all of the accolades and hype surrounding the commitment, here is what Seminole fans should expect from Webb in Tallahassee.

Depth

First and foremost, Webb provides key and immediate depth at running back. With the departure of Cam Akers and several transfers in the past two years, running back is definitely lacking depth. Going into 2020, FSU only has three scholarship running backs with Khalan Laborn and Anthony Grant returning, plus the addition of four-star Lawrance Toafili. The ‘Noles are also bringing in transfer Jashuan Corbin from Texas A&M, and do have two stud walk-ons in Deonte Sheffield and Treshuan Ward.

While it may seem that the running back position is pretty stacked, it is very close to getting thin. Anthony Grant spent almost all of last season away from the team, and while he has a ton of talent, it remains to be seen if he will become a serious contributor. Laborn is immensely talented but has dealt with injury issues since the beginning of the 2018 season. Corbin may not be immediately eligible, and there is no guarantee that Sheffield and Ward will become serious contributors.

Four-star signee Lawrance Toafili will be a true freshman with no college experience obviously.

This is why Webb’s commitment is important. He provides immediate and guaranteed depth, with Corbin’s eligibility still in question. It also helps in case of any transfers that might occur before the season starts, and in any case, helps in the event of injury luck.

Skills

Webb is a little small, standing 5’8 and weighing 190, but displays a unique blend of speed and power. Here is a clip of a run against Mississippi Gulf Coast, the #4 team in junior college last season.

Here, we can see Webb put his skills on display. He takes the delayed handoff and uses great speed to quickly get up the middle. Webb then is able to break several tackles and tack on several extra yards. He compares a bit more to Laborn, who relies on exceptional quickness and agility than he does to a Cam Akers or Dalvin Cook.

Here’s another clip of Webb in high school. The competition may not be the best, but the run is ridiculous nonetheless.

As we can see, Webb is adept at breaking tackles and hitting another gear in the open field. Webb reverses field and makes several people miss in the open before turning on the after-burners for a TD. This run reminds me of former ‘Nole and current Redskins’s running back Chris Thompson, who was adept at making people miss and turning on the jets for big touchdowns.

Overall, FSU football fans should be excited at the prospect they’re getting with Webb. He’s quick, good at making people miss, and worst-case scenario provides quality depth. Best-case, he’ll be competing for the starting job and getting significant reps this fall.