FSU football: Could the Seminoles place offensive lineman Andre Otto at right tackle?

Florida State's offensive line has been underwhelming during the Seminoles' 0-2 start where they lost to Georgia Tech and Boston College. It stinks that offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Alex Atkins is suspended for the first three games of the 2024 season due to recruiting violations.

Atkins has been a highly-regarded assistant coach for Florida State where he has transformed the Seminoles' offensive line throughout his tenure with the program. He has always recruited at a high level. However, Florida State has relied heavily on the transfer portal at the position.

The Seminoles have been playing pieces such as Darius Washington, Richie Leonard IV, Maurice Smith, TJ Ferguson, Keiondre Jones, Jeremiah Byers, and Jaylen Early this season. Unfortunately, the offensive line has not performing where they are unable to establish the running game.

I realize that fans want to place blame on quarterback DJ Uiagalelei for his performance. I know that many individuals want Uiagalelei to be evaluated with Brock Glenn and/or Luke Kromenhoek taking his place in this starting lineup.

However, I believe the concern can be expressed with the Seminoles not running the football and opposing defenses stacking the box where they are forcing Uiagalelei to throw it downfield. With the recent offensive line struggles, could we see a change to the starting lineup versus Memphis?

The coaching staff could be thinking with a mindset of throwing the kitchen sink at Memphis due to the urgency of not starting the 2024 season with a 0-3 record. One change that I could see happen is inserting redshirt freshman offensive lineman Andre Otto at right tackle.

Veteran offensive tackle Jeremiah Byers has been inconsistent during the 2023 season after coming from the UTEP Miners. Byers suffered a lower-body injury so contributor Robert Scott Jr. had to step into action. After the coaching staff saw Scott Jr. struggle, they inserted redshirt sophomore Jaylen Early into the starting lineup.

It seems to be a revolving door at right tackle until Byers gets back to full health. Otto was a former three-star prospect from the Class of 2023 who has an underrated piece in the Seminoles' recruiting class where everyone was talking about former five-star Lucas Simmons.

The redshirt freshman had a productive fall camp where Florida State put him all over the offensive line at tackle, guard, and center. Washington is manning the left tackle position so he doesn't have to be the Swiss Army knife anymore. I think Otto can be just what the Seminoles need at this time during the season for their offensive line.