Quarterback play has been one of the biggest issues with FSU football, dating back to the post-Jamies Winston era. The 2015 season saw Sean Maguire and transfer Everett Golson split time.
The 2016 was the most productive year post-Winston, with Deondre Francois leading the way as a redshirt freshman.
However, once Francois got hurt in the 2017 opener against Alabama? The FSU QB position has been a nightmare.
The offensive line play and lack of talent at wide receiver hasn’t helped much. Quarterback Jordan Travis has been productive the last two seasons when healthy, but that’s been the knock on him, aside from the notion he couldn’t throw the ball.
The latter has mostly been disproven by the current coaching staff, but his injury history concerns everyone the most. I’ve said it a hundred times, if Travis were healthy for 12 games last season, FSU likely wins 7-8 games.
The coaching staff has gone all in on him for the 2022 season with little to no proven depth behind him.
However, Travis became the permanent starter after the Louisville game, and we saw a steady progression with his grasp of the offense and his decison-making when running the ball and avoiding unncessary hits.
The last three games of 2021 provide a glimpe of what Travis could become if he can stay healthy.
First Half of 2021 Season
Jordan Travis missed a lot of reps in the offseason leading up to the Notre Dame game. He was named the starter, but I think the coaching staff still wasn’t unsure what they had with him, and he didn’t have the confidence that he showed near the end of the season.
McKenzie Milton wasn’t healthy, so they had to play the guy that gave them the best option to win. It’s why we saw the playcalling the coaches used early in the season as they were trying to establish an identity on offense.
Here’s the average number of passes, passing yards, rushing attempts, and rushing yards for Travis in the three games he started(he missed significant portions of the Jacksonville State and Wake Forest games and all of the Louisville game).
-21.3 passing attempts
-14 completions
-135 yards per game
-15 rushing attempts
-79 rushing yards per game
Travis accounted for seven passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns in those three games.
Second Half of 2021 Season
We saw Travis as the permanent starter after the loss to Syracuse, and we saw the coaching staff begin to attack defenses with different methods.
The second half of the season began with the UMASS game, where Travis only had 19 plays on offense.
Clemson was the best defense they faced, and the FSU didn’t have the skill players or offensive line to give Jordan Travis enough opportunities to be effective.
He failed to make a couple of plays in the game, but the margin for error was too small, with a lot of his passing production coming on a extraordinary play by Lawrence Toafili.
Unfortunately, Travis missed the NC State game with the flu, a game they would have had a chance to win if he could have played.
Here’s the average number of passes, passing yards, rushing attempts, and rushing yards for Travis in the five games he started in the second half of the season:
-24.2 passing attempts
-15 completions
-205 yards per game
-15 rushing attempts
-53.2 rushing yards per game
Travis accounted for six passing touchdowns and four rushing touchdowns in those five games. However, it’s the final three games where the coaching staff seemed to unlock his potential.
Final Three Games of 2021
The final three games are where we saw Jordan Travis flourish as he gained confidence and the coaches trusted him with more of the offensive load.
Here’s the average number of passes, passing yards, and runs for Travis in the final three games(he missed about one-quarter of the Florida game).
-29.6 passing attempts
-18.6 completions
-242.3 yards per game
-17.3 rushing attempts
-64 rushing yards per game
If we extrapolate that over a 12-game regular season? Here’s the stat projected stat line
-355 passing attempts
-223 completions (62.8 percent)
-2,907 passing yards
-204 rushing attempts
-768 rushing yards
If we extrapolate that over a 12-game regular season? Here’s the stat projected stat line. I’m not sure I’m sold on his body holding up with that many rushing attempts per game, but if he comes anywhere close to these overall numbers, it’ll be the best season by an FSU QB since 2016 and FSU likely wins the eight games needed to satisfy this fan base.
Travis will have had a full offseason knowing he’s the bonafide starter. The offensive line and wide receiver unit projects to be better than last year. All Travis has to do is stay healthy.