Florida State Football: 5 storylines to follow during 2018 spring ball

4. Cam Akers becoming a household name

Seminoles running back Cam Akers ran for over 1,000 yards and seven touchdowns as a true freshman. That’s an amazing true freshman campaign and while Noles fans didn’t forget Dalvin Cook, his departure was a bit easier to handle with Akers on board.

Akers, a consensus five-star prospect in the 2017 recruiting class, is the complete package at 5-foot-11 and 215 pounds of explosive athlete. This offseason, Akers squatted 500 pounds twice after a winter workout. Akers, who averaged 5.3 yards per carry, is on the verge of becoming a household name.

Willie Taggart’s offense gave Royce Freeman a platform to excel on at Oregon. He ran for 6.0 yards per carry, over 1,400 rushing yards, and 16 touchdowns in his only season as Taggart’s feature back.

What will Akers need to do to become a household name? He’ll need to make game breaking plays like Dalvin Cook or Saquon Barkley did and get himself involved in the passing game as well. In 2017, he only caught 16 balls but he’ll need to be more involved in the passing game.

Jacques Patrick and Akers will still split carries, but expect Akers to take over the bulk as the season goes on. In order to do so, his yards per carry will also have to increase to six or greater because Patrick doesn’t have the burst Akers is known for.