Florida State: FSU not dominating New Mexico State results in missed opportunity f…
Florida State · New Mexico StateAfter reading, put a pin in this column. At face value, Florida State football’s snap counts from Saturday night look concerning with the lack of homegrown talent on the field, especially after what head coach Mike Norvell said throughout the offseason and who the Seminoles took in the transfer portal.
Unfortunately, given the closeness of the scoreline and what appears to be a lack of development, neither of those came through. Starting on the offensive side of the ball, FSU aggressively went into the transfer portal to replace five departing starters from a season ago.
The number of new players created competition at almost every spot between a transfer and a homegrown lineman. With four transfers starting, that also meant that Jonathan Daniels , now in his third season in Tallahassee, lost the right tackle competition to FCS OT Chimdia Nwaiwu, who finished with a pedestrian 63.3 PFF offensive grade and did not play that impressively.
Florida State's coaching staff should have been rooting for Daniels to win the starting job, but due to a lack of development, he begins this season on the bench. Along with Daniels, center Sandman Thompson did not see the field after losing out to veteran Bradyn Welch-Joiner.
KEY POINTS
- FSU not dominating New Mexico State results in missed opportunity for Seminoles’ depth.
- The Noles took a massive high school recruiting class of 34 players and left some position groups untouched, or took only a few transfers, allowing homegrown talent to grow and develop.
- Games like Saturday, when the Noles are 31-point favorites at kickoff, should let younger players see the field, giving coaches a better understanding of their skill set and fans some excitement.
- On Saturday, four of the five OL were transfers, and the lone homegrown player, Andre Otto, was the lowest-graded offensive lineman, according to PFF.