Front Porch Football2018 Florida State Season Preview
by John Covington Lamm
FSU
Tallahassee, Fl | Doak Campbell Stadium (79,560) | 2017 Record: 7-6 (3-5 ACC)
The days of Jameis Winston “tossin that thang” around the football field are far gone, and the traditional powerhouse Seminoles are no longer at the top of the ACC. But that doesn’t mean the Noles and their awe inspiring number 1 fan, Daryl Nathanson, don’t still have high standards for their football team. The Noles had high expectations in 2017, when they were ranked 3rd in the country to start the season. However, the excitement soon changed. Florida State lost 24-7 to the Crimson Tide and quarterback Deondre Francois went down with a torn patella. Florida State was never able to regain momentum causing them to start the season 3-6, before finally finishing 7-6. To add insult to injury, star coach, Jimbo Fisher, announced leading up to the regular season finale that he’d rather be an Aggie, as he took his talents to College Station, TX to become the head football coach of Texas A&M.
This upcoming season is filled with more questions than answers for this very talented but inexperienced Florida State team. Willie Taggart comes back to his home state to coach the Seminoles, hoping to return the program to the powerhouse, filled with Heisman trophies and championships.
Offense
Quarterback: Florida State has had years of great quarterback play, with players like Charlie Ward, Chris Weinke, and the crab-leg thief himself, Jameis Winston. However, this upcoming year is full of questions at the quarterback position. There appears to be a three-way battle at the position between junior Deondre Francois, sophomore James Blackman, and former 4-star recruit redshirt freshman Bailey Hockman. Although, it is almost guaranteed to come down to Deondre Francois and James Blackman. And many people believing James Blackman will become the starter.
James Blackman is one of three gunning for a starting position. Image from Getty Images.
James Blackman took over as a true freshman last year for Deondre Francois when Francois was lost for the season in week one. Blackman had ups and downs in his freshman year, and finished with 2,230 passing yards, 19 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions in 12 starts. He is a better pocket passer than Deondre Francois, but not nearly as athletic or the playmaker. Deondre Francois was the ACC Freshman of the Year in 2016, when he had 3,538 total yards and 25 total touchdowns. He is my pick to win the job. Taggart brings in a new offense that he calls the Gulf Coast Offense, which will be an up-tempo offense with a large amount of running, compared to the pro-style offense Jimbo Fisher ran. Francois’ athleticism and playmaking ability, along with looking like Cam Newton’s long-lost twin, make him the obvious choice.
Deondre Francois tries to regain his starting position after a season ending injury Week 1 in 2017. Image from Sports Illustrated.
Running Backs: Florida State is loaded at the running back position. With Coach Taggart’s new offense, we can expect the Noles to run the ball often. Sophomore Cam Akers will be the main back in the 2018 season. Akers is as talented a running back as there is in the college football. Jameis Winston would probably label him the “best running back in the whole damn league,” which may end up being true this season.
Akers had 1,025 rushing yards in his freshman season. If he can get some blocking from his line this year, it would not be shocking to see him be an All-American. However, Akers is not the only back that will make an impact.
Cam Akers looks for repeated success this season. Image from 247 Sports.
Senior, Jacque Patrick (6-3, 235) had over 700 yards last year and will look to have another strong year. Former 5-star freshman Khalan Laborn and speedster Amir Rasul look to get involved this year as well.
Wide Receivers: Florida State has had great receivers over the years with players like Peter Warrick, Anquan Boldin and Kelvin Benjamin. Yet, they haven’t had a 1,000 yard receiver since 2014, and unfortunately that probably will continue in 2018. Florida State only has two returning receivers who had more than 6 catches last season. The group is led by senior Nyqwan Murray who racked up 604 yards, on 40 catches in 2017. Murray missed much of the spring with a knee injury but should be fine for the start of camp.
Nyqwan Murray is without doubt the best receiver FSU has. Image from Orlando Sentential.
Junior Keith Gavin is a big receiver, who had 27 catches and 278 yards in 2017 and looks to have an impact this upcoming season. Both of these players need to have a strong year if Florida State is going to contend. Florida State will also need another player to step up. Look for sophomore DJ Matthews, who shined in the spring under the new Gulf Coast offense, to have a big impact and be a very improved player in 2018.
DJ Matthews could have a breakout 2018 season. Image from FSU Athletics.
Offensive Line: The legend himself Rick Trickett, who as Jameis Winston luckily enlightened us “ain’t nobody get on your ass like Coach Trickett,” will not be back coaching the line in 2018. And frankly, as much as I love Coach Trickett, it may be a good thing. Florida State’s offensive line has been abysmal over the past few years. There is no nice way to sugar coat it. The line gave up 36 sacks in 2016 and 32 sacks last season.
Greg Frey, who was a member of the 1993 national championship team, will be in charge of the offensive line for the Seminoles in 2018. Frey hopes to turn this line into a productive group in a hurry under a new offense. On the bright side, Florida State’s line has a lot of experience as they return 4 linemen with notable starting experience. This group is led by senior center Alec Eberle who has a team high 32 career starts, and senior Derrick Kelly, who has 19 career starts at left guard, left tackle, and right guard. Junior guard, Landon Dickerson, considered by many to be the team’s most talented player on the line, has had leg injuries in both 2016 and 2017. If he can stay healthy, he is expected to be a force.
Alec Eberle returns as the leader of the O-Line. Image from Sports Illustrated.
This group has some talent, but very little depth. If they can stay healthy and adapt quickly to the new hurry up, run dominate offense, then fans in Tallahassee could have a fairly solid line. But I wouldn’t get my hopes up. With the lack of depth and new offense, it is bound to take a while for this line to gel and most likely will look much like the poor offensive lines of the past two seasons.
Derrick Kelly can play any position on the line. Image from USA Today.
Defense
Defensive Line: Florida State’s interior defensive line is easily the best part of the defense, led by the pair of seniors Fred Jones and Demarcus Christmas. Christmas flirted with leaving for the NFL draft before deciding to return for his senior year. The 6-4, 308 lb lineman is going to be a force as a run stopper and will be the leader of that defense. Unlike the defensive tackles, the defensive ends are not quite as experienced. 6-5 Brian Burns has shown glimpses of being an elite pass rusher, with 9.5 sacks in 2016.
He is expected to be opposite of the physical freak Joshua Kaindoh, who at 6-7, 247 lbs, will be just fine if his football career doesn’t work out. Kaindoh is set to become a doctor when he hangs up the helmet, and even has interned with the Florida Osteopathic Medical Association (FOMA) this summer. All in all, this is another very talented position group for the Seminoles, who plan on both being strong at stopping the run and getting to the quarterback.
Kaindoh has plans for after football. Image from FOMA.
Linebackers: This is arguably the weakest position with the most question marks, and frankly, I have no idea what to expect from this group. Josh Brown, Dontavious Jackson, Emmitt Rice, and Adonis Thomas are expected to be the main 4 in the rotation this year. However, no starting jobs are locked down and anything could happen in camp. Florida State may run a lot of nickel this year as well, only playing two linebackers at a time, since many of their opponents love the throw the ball and/or run the hurry-up.
Secondary: Unfortunately, my personal favorite Seminoles “Neon” Deion Sanders has been gone for almost 30 years, and I’m still irate about it. Star safety Derwin James is also gone after being drafted 17th overall by the Chargers, but that doesn’t mean this secondary is doomed. Junior, Levonta Taylor leads the way for this secondary in 2018 and is one of the best corners in the ACC. Stanford Samuels III had a great spring practice at corner and shows the potential to be an elite corner for the Noles. Strong athletic safeties Hamsah Nasirildeen and A.J. Westbrook are expected to start for the Noles, but don’t be surprised if sophomore Cyrus Fagan or star recruit Jaiden Woodbey find their way into the rotation.
Samuels III has the potential to be a great DB for FSU. Image from USA Today.
Special Teams
Florida State has had a number of famous and infamous kickers. Sebastian Janikowski is known for his hard partying lifestyle and once attempting a 76 yard field goal with the Raiders (smart decision Lane Kiffin). Then there are Gerry Thomas and Dan Mowrey who kicked field goals “wide right” to lose to the Miami Hurricanes. And my personal favorite, current Carolina Panther Graham Gano, who has caused me to cuss in front of my mother more times than I care to admit. Anyway, this year’s special teams are led by junior kicker Ricky Aguayo and returning junior punter Logan Tyler, both extremely talented. Aguayo should be set to have another stellar year coming off of 2017 where he only missed 3 field goals.
Coaching Staff
Willie Taggart takes over this program after a 7-5 year at Oregon in his only year with that team. As I’ve mentioned, Taggart brings an exciting and electric new offense he calls the Gulf Coast Offense to the Seminole program. He looks to snap the ball quickly and spread the field. It is tough to tell how well the Noles will be able to run the new scheme early on. Taggart’s teams often struggle in the first year, and this is a much different offense than many of the FSU players have been used to. Yet, if Francois is the starting quarterback, his talent and abilities could make the Seminoles a threat in Taggart’s 1st season.
Willie Taggart enters 2018 as FSU’s new head coach. Image from USA Today.
Biggest Strength: Running Back – Florida State is set to have a great 1-2 punch in the back field with speed from Cam Akers and power from Jacques Patrick. Khalan Laborn is unbelievably talented as well, and after a great spring practice, could surprise a lot of people and become a great contributor. If the offensive line can give them any lanes to run through whatsoever, then Florida State is set to be the best backfield in the league.
Biggest Weakness: Offensive Line – I may be beating a dead horse with this one, but Florida State has been incompetent at offensive line for several years, and it is bound to continue. Even though they return 4 starters, it’s hard to see this line suddenly become good, especially under a new hurry-up offensive scheme that they aren’t used to running. If the Seminoles expect to beat teams like NC State, Florida, and Clemson, this line is going to have to be able to play better and be able to create running lanes and be able to pass block better than they have the past several seasons.
Offensive, Defensive, and Freshman Player of the Year
Offensive: Cam Akers – I’m not shocking anyone with this prediction. Cam Akers is set to become one of the best backs in all of college football in 2018. Even if by some shot in the dark chance he doesn’t improve from last year’s already great 1000 yard season, he is still going to be the best offensive player out of this group.
Defensive: Demarcus Christmas – The unbelievably talented force in the middle is going to have to be as good a run stopper as there is in college football. Coming back for his Senior year, Christmas expects to have an elite year to increase his already high draft status. If he plays the way I believe he will, no one is going to be able to run on the Noles.
Demarcus Christmas is a future NFL DL. Image from USA Today.
John Lamm is a recent graduate of Wofford College. He is an avid college football fan, and one of the only people that can stump Chris Paschal when it comes to pointless college football trivia. He also is one of the leading historians on the Winston Era of Florida State Football. Recent publications include, “I Guess We Strong Then” and “We Didn’t Come Here For A Reason,” which is a three part series that dives into the 2013 Florida State Seminoles. It’s over 3,000 pages long. 
I take back almost every mean thing I ever said about John C Lamm. This was great reading and I’m glad to see he thinks 8 wins is within reach (since Beans is pretty down on even 6 wins). If he had only told me all along he had written 3,000 words on FSU’s 2013 season, he and I would have been on the same side of the pong table and not the mortal enemies we briefly became.