FSU football has questions about its quarterback position going into the third year in a row. Here’s why Mike Norvell can save James Blackman.
FSU football hasn’t had good quarterback play since Jameis Winston left to become the No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick in 2014.
Quarterback play and a terrible offensive line the last few years is one of the main culprits behind FSU football going 18-20 since 2017.
The 2017 season saw James Blackman take over as a true freshman non-early enrollee for an injured Deondre Francois. Blackman was inconsistent, but ultimately began to play better as the season progressed, winning Independence Bowl MVP honors against Southern Mississippi.
I still believe Blackman got a raw deal from Willie Taggart in 2018 as Taggart never seemed to fully support him as THE guy. I’m still scratching my head with how Deondre Francois missed all of spring and summer 2018 but won the starting job even though Blackman knew the offense better.
Well, I know why, but there was no excuse for Blackman not to see the field after the Syracuse game where it was obvious Francois was not the answer in a spread offense.
Enter 2019 and Blackman wins the starting job and plays well the first four games of the season before Taggart and Kendal Briles implemented a two-quarterback system with Wisconsin graduate transfer Alex Hornibrook.
I think that moved hindered James Blackman’s performance more than anything last season. Admittedly, I was on it’s time for James Blackman to go after his performance against Arizona State in the Sun Bowl. It was an atrocious performance, but after giving it some thought, Mike Norvell could save James Blackman and use him in 2020 as the starting quarterback.
Here are three reasons why that’s the case.
Blackman Has Talent
James Blackman was NOT the problem during the (1-2) start for FSU football in 2019. Here’s a look at his stats BEFORE the two-quarterback system was implemented:
- 23 of 33 for 327 yards (69.7 percent), three touchdowns, 0 interceptions vs. Boise State
- 30 of 40 for 282 yards (75 percent), three touchdowns, two interceptions vs. Louisiana-Monroe
- 22 of 37 for 234 yards (59.5 percent), three touchdowns, zero interceptions vs. Virginia
That’s a stat line of 75 of 110 for 843 yards (68.1 percent) nine touchdowns and two interceptions. FSU was up 31-13 mid-way through the second quarter against Boise State. They were up 24-7 at halftime against Louisiana-Monroe and the defense gave up 21 fourth-quarter points to a mediocre Virginia offense.
Did Blackman miss some throw and have a couple of bad turnovers? Absolutely, however, those losses to Boise State and Virginia were on the FSU defense, no question. The Louisville game was the beginning of the two-quarterback system with Blackman going 11 of 14 for 127 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions before getting injured and missing the game against NC State.
He never seemed to be the same after that as he played well enough for FSU to beat Wake Forest. He then played sparingly against Syracuse and didn’t play against Miami until the game was out of hand even though Alex Hornibrook was playing terribly.
Willie Taggart was fired after the Miami game, and James Blackman started the rest of the season having his ups and downs. However, I firmly believe the Noles would have had a better year if he started every game, and the FSU defense wasn’t looking like swiss cheese in the first few games.
New Offensive System
I know, it’s the fourth offensive system James Blackman will experience since he arrived in Tallahassee. That’s the great thing about it as it’s a clean slate with the new coaching staff.
Think of it as a basketball player trying to fit into a system and being a decent player. However, when they finally get into a system that fits them better, they are more productive and more helpful to the team.
The clean slate is big for James Blackman as he likely felt he didn’t get a fair shake last season with the two-quarterback system. He did himself no favors with his play late in the season, but it was easy to see a lot of his issues were mental as his fundamentals were failing at the same time.
Were those ever addressed in practice? With the way things seemed so disorganized, I’m willing to bet they were not or at least not adequately.
Mike Norvell can take last season and toss it out of the window. His offense differs from Kendal Briles, and he has a chance to see what James Blackman can do with how he coaches players. Athletes are fickle and respond differently to different coaching. We saw Blackman play progressively better while getting chewed out by Jimbo Fisher in 2017.
Maybe Mike Norvell and Kenny Dillingham can find exactly what buttons to push for James Blackman to find his mojo again in 2020?
Confidence
This is the key to everything. A confident player will go out and usually play well. My grandfather used to tell me all the time if you go up to hit and don’t believe you can hit what the pitcher’s throwing, you won’t.
It’s a problem if a player is playing well enough for his team to win, but still too busy looking over his shoulder wondering, if he’s going to be pulled off the field.
No question players should feel pressure to perform well from competition. However, it’s a fine line to tow when a player wins a QB competition and still has to share time even when playing well.
That takes away his confidence and causes him to trust his coaches less. Why would he believe they’d put him in a situation to succeed when they don’t trust him when he’s playing well? If that was the case, they should have gone with the two-quarterback system straight out of fall camp.
Mike Norvell has an entire spring, summer, and fall to expose James Blackman to his offense. To see what he can handle, what he does well, and the best way to put him in positions to succeed.
This is when he can work on getting Blackman’s fundamentals back up to par, express belief in him, and ultimately gain his trust that he’s THE guy in 2020 provided Blackman puts in the requisite work.
Blackman’s already added 10 pounds, according to FSU offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham, who mentioned it in a recent interview with 247’s On The Bench Podcast.
He’s always been a hard worker, he just needs confidence and proper coaching to make him what he’s capable of. A quarterback that could help FSU football win eight or nine games in 2020.