FSU football receives depressing news on 2026 quarterback target Landon Duckworth

FSU football coaches have been looking for answers to the quarterback position in recruiting since Brady Smigiel de-committed in January. FSU offered several guys immediately after Smigiel backed away from his pledge. However, those targets seem to have interest elsewhere.

Bowe Bentley eliminated the Noles from his final three schools after visiting for Legacy Weekend a few weeks back. The latest on four-star Landon Duckworth is he received a crystal ball prediction favoring Ole Miss on Monday from respected recruiting analyst Steve Wiltfong.

Those predictions are not always accurate, but Wiltfong usually has a great handle on the temperature when he provides a prediction. He gave some wiggle room with a confidence level of "6" out of 10. However, it's the second crystal ball for Duckworth to Ole Miss in as many weeks.

Duckworth and Bentley were the top two uncommitted targets the Noles were pursuing. However, they have turned their attention to Oklahoma commit Jaden O'Neal, who was on campus a couple of days ago to observe practice.

The thought is that Oklahoma's new offensive coordinator may like Bowe Bentley a bit more, so O'Neal is testing the waters. He camped at FSU in the summer of 2024, but that was before Gus Malzahn as the offensive coordinator. However, quarterbacks coach Tony Tokarz was here then and remains on staff.

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Duckworth ranks as the No. 6 overall QB, Smigiel at No. 7, Bentley at No. 10, and O'Neal ranks No. 11.

There isn't a huge discrepancy in the rankings among the four players FSU has had interest in. However, O'Neal is probably closer to Smigiel regarding relying more on his arm than his legs for production. Duckworth and Bentley are both true dual-threat guys.

We'll see how it unfolds as we get to the summer. Duckworth had an official visit set with FSU for June 13th. We'll see if O'Neal sets a date for one.