Florida State suspends prized quarterback recruit Malik Henry
Florida State will have their depth tested at quarterback following the suspension of Malik Henry.
Florida State is already down one quarterback with Sean Maguire suffering a broken bone in his right foot and now the Seminoles will be without freshman Malik Henry.
The former four-star recruit from California was suspended indefinitely by head coach Jimbo Fisher on Saturday, according to the Orlando Sentinel. He was expected to redshirt this season, following the plan of quarterback development Fisher used on Jameis Winston and now-starting quarterback Deondre Francois.
Henry played well in the team’s spring game and put up comparable numbers to Francois when he completed 15-of-22 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns.
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It remains unclear how long Henry’s suspension will last or what he did exactly to be suspended but it’s clearly not a good look even if it won’t cost him any playing time. If this is a maturity issue, then the hope is this is a correctable issue with a precocious freshman. Henry wouldn’t be the first freshman in college to need a wake-up call to realize he’s not in high school any longer.
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The former No. 4 pro-style quarterback and top-50 recruit, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings can be the next great quarterback to play for Florida State if he wants to be. If he’s not ready to put in the necessary work to be great, then he can just as easily be the next cautionary tale.
Henry made transferring in high school a bit of a habit, and after getting suspended there are likely many Florida State fans wondering if Henry will transfer out of Florida State. From a depth chart perspective, it may be in his best interest before considering any off-field reasons.
If Francois plays well against Ole Miss he could continue to start when Maguire is healthy in Week 2 or 3. If that happens, Francois is the starter for the next 2-3 years, but if Francois struggles and FSU loses, Maguire takes over and Henry enters the spring in a legit competition with Francois for the 2017 starting job.
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Florida State opens the season against the Ole Miss Rebels with J.J. Cosentino and walk-on Jake Rizzo as the only healthy backups to Francois.