FSU football: Best explanation on why youth movement took so long

Wide Receivers

What freshman wide receiver got to FSU and lit the world on fire? The only one you can think of recently is probably Rashad Green. There are a few unicorns each year that make the transition without many issues, but they are few and far between. FSU signed some talented guys in the last two recruiting cycles and managed to get them on the field as freshmen. Hykeem Williams and Destyn Hill were on the field in game one against LSU in 2023. Both got hurt during the season and have battled injuries since. So the notion that FSU won't play freshmen is a bit misleading.

The issue at receiver is there are so many intricacies to learn. There's how to release off of the line of scrimmage, leverage, depth of the route, timing, which route to run based on coverage, etc. Those are things that take tons of reps at practice. The interception Brock Glenn threw against Clemson? It was a miscommunication because he thought Hykeem Williams was running one route, but Williams ran a different route. Yes, FSU receivers have been terrible at dropping the ball, but you first have to be where you're supposed to be to have a chance to make the catch.

Most freshmen receivers are not ready to contribute early because of these factors. How does it look if you reward a guy with playing time when he consistently runs the wrong route in practice? We're six weeks into the season and those young guys have been getting tons of practice reps. They should be developing enough to get on the field now, and that's getting reflected on the depth chart. The guys who enrolled early (Lawayne McKoy) have an advantage over those who didn't(Elijah Moore).