FSU football: How far away are the Noles after watching national title game?

Depth

The biggest difference between FSU and respectability is the lack of depth. I wrote before the 2021 season that I liked the starting 11 on both sides of the ball but knew FSU would have issues if injuries occurred.

Injuries at quarterback and along the offensive line cost the Noles some wins in 2021. In hindsight, if Jordan Travis remained healthy and the offensive line starters remained healthy, I think the probability of FSU winning at least seven games is fairly high. However, we saw how the lack of depth at those two positions did to the FSU offense.

Don’t get me wrong, because most teams will struggle if they lose their starting quarterback. All we have to do is look at the 2017 FSU with a team still more talented than most of the teams on their schedule, and it was a struggle to win seven games.

FSU had good injury luck on the defensive side of the ball, aside from losing Dennis Briggs Jr. for the season. FSU stayed healthy at key positions like the defensive end, linebacker, and most of the secondary.

However, there was still a drop-off in play when starters came out of the game for a breather. We saw Alabama stay competitive with Georgia, despite losing two of their top receivers.

However, losing those two guys likely was the difference between winning and losing that game because Alabama reserves had several drops.

If FSU can stay relatively healthy, they have a good shot of making a bowl and winning at least seven games in 2022. The staff is working on building quality depth.