FSU football: One writer ranks Nole wide receivers as worst in the ACC

FSU football has several units in question as we close in on the beginning of fall camp in early August. One of the biggest questions going into the season is the wide receiver unit.

ESPN writer David Hale has been giving his thoughts on some ACC teams and units heading into the ACC Kickoff. Hale usually does good work with context and stats to back up what he says.

One thing that caught my eye the other day was the ranking of the FSU wide receiver group dead last in the ACC.

Here’s what he wrote from his Twitter account:

That’s amazing, and he’s not exactly wrong as we head into the 2021 season. FSU wide receivers were awful last year and haven’t been good for a while outside of Tamorrion Terry and Keyshawn Helton before an injury ended his season in 2019.

Helton returned from the injury last season but didn’t look like the same player. The number of drops from this unit was astounding last season and something that will need to be fixed if this unit doesn’t want to remain near the bottom of the ACC.

It didn’t help this unit when Willie Taggart failed to sign any skill position players in the 2019 recruiting cycle.

However, Mike Norvell is addressing the issue. Freshmen Malik McClain and Joshua Burrell enrolled in the spring and look to make contributions this fall. Norvell also signed Kansas transfer Andrew Parchment who was productive and will likely be the No. 1 receiver even though he didn’t enroll until this summer.

Ontaria Wilson is a solid option if he can ever stay healthy. Injuries have derailed him the past couple of years. Helton has proven he can play, but will he return to form in 2021? Kentron Poitier flashed a couple of times as a freshman last year.

Camren McDonald is a solid piece at tight end, but there’s zero production behind him.

It’s do or die for someone like Jordan Young, who enters his third season on the team. There’s also the element of poor QB play over the last few years that’s a factor as well.

The latter should be improved in 2021, and the wide receivers will need to do the same if the Noles have any shot of making a bowl game in 2021.