Florida State football is about halfway finished with its spring camp. There are tons of new faces at some key positions, and everyone wants to know what’s happening at practice. Will they be good? Which players are standing out? If one unit looks good, does that mean the opposing unit is bad?
I’ve been covering Florida State football on this site since 2016, and I can tell you spring camp is way too early to draw any real conclusions. The conflicting “reports” you’re hearing from “sources” at these subscription sites should tell you all you need to know.
For starters, there’s a reason the media hasn’t had access to practices for the past two years. Secondly, whatever information leaks out of practice likely does so because the coaches want it to.
I heard some subscription guys mention they received reports that conflicted with one another. Why do you think that is? One reason is that they are working techniques at practice, so just because a player won a rep doesn’t mean anything. The first scrimmage they had wasn’t a real scrimmage, because it’s designed to work on different situations like third downs or goal line, etc.
Mike Norvell and the coaching staff are pretty candid about what they see at practice if you listen to the interviews.
Also, just because a player had a great day at practice should be taken with a grain of salt. What if he was going up against the twos or even a walk-on?
This type of context is rarely given in these scoops, plus it’s barely eight spring camp practices. A ton will happen between now and the end of fall camp, right before the season starts.
So stop living and dying with each practice report and getting concerned with who’s doing what. Most veterans are taking limited reps because the coaches have an idea of what they can do. It’s the younger players taking tons of practice reps, looking to develop and find their way on the depth chart.
Once the fall rolls around, that’s when it’s time to really listen to what the coaches and players say in post-practice interviews.