As of this week, David Pollack works for On3, so the former Georgia Bulldog and ESPN College Gameday analyst could have texted On3 insider Pete Nakos for information on Florida State quarterback Ashton Daniels. If he didn’t already have his number, it wouldn’t be hard for him to get it now.
Instead, on Saturday morning ahead of Florida State’s season-opener against New Mexico State, Pollack took to X to ask Nakos and ESPN insider Pete Thamel a question:
Are the people that are actually in the know hearing anything about the FSU QB situation? Hearing grumblings about Daniels maybe not starting. I'm not breaking news FYI@PeteThamel @PeteNakos
— David Pollack (@davidpollack47) August 29, 2026
Pollack isn’t a news breaker and made it clear he wasn’t trying to break things here, but his post made quite a stir, with over 400,000 views as of this writing on Saturday evening. It was a needless rumor to start, and Florida State’s first depth chart release of the year assuredly debunks it.
Ashton Daniels still entrenched as Florida State’s starting QB
As expected, Auburn transfer Ashton Daniels was listed as QB1 on the official depth chart for Week 0. Florida State opted not to release a depth chart prior to game day, a practice Mike Norvell has vowed to keep up throughout the season, but even without one, it was a near certainty that Daniels would be the starter behind center.
#FSU’s depth chart for New Mexico State. #Noles pic.twitter.com/LloLM50Asy
— Dustin Lewis (@DustinLewisNG) August 29, 2026
Daniels was first named the starting QB in Tallahassee in the spring. There was no QB1 controversy in fall camp, even with JUCO transfer Malachi Marshall impressing enough to move into an “or” designation with Kevin Sperry for the QB2 job.
By all accounts, Daniels didn’t do anything in fall camp to jeopardize his standing. The senior, FSU’s third-straight transfer starting QB in as many years, arrived in Tallahassee with turnover issues, with 22 career interceptions to 24 touchdown passes between Auburn and Stanford, but he’s received high marks from his head coach.
Ball security will be paramount for Daniels, especially in a run-first offense orchestrated by Norvell, who is returning to play-calling duties after ceding the responsibility to Gus Malzahn in 2025. Still, it would likely take sustained struggles in game situations before Norvell and his staff even considered pulling the plug on Daniels in favor of Marshall, who spent last season at Iowa Western Community College.
There was never any reason to worry about Ashton Daniels’ QB1 status
College football analysts hear things, and evidently Pollack heard something about Daniels, but it’s hard to tell what it would have been. Norvell and his staff have been noticeably tight-lipped this offseason, including conversations about injuries, which could lead to trouble with Devin Carter’s murky situation, but had Daniels suffered an injury, there’s no way Norvell could have stopped that from leaking.
Even if there were struggles in practice, that likely would have been newsworthy, while simultaneously not being enough to shake Norvell from his decision to name Daniels the starter. So, whatever the rumor was, it seems it wasn’t true, and that’s good news for the Noles, who need a big year from their new QB.
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