Florida State Football: 5 biggest questions facing the Seminoles in spring 2018

Florida State football is entering the 2018 spring game with some questions to answer. What’re the five biggest questions facing the Seminoles?

Tallahassee will be electric on Saturday for the spring game as Willie Taggart will be at the helm for the first time. He replaces Jimbo Fisher who took the Texas A&M head coaching job near the end of the 2017 season, leaving the opening for Taggart who called Florida State his dream job.

Florida State has been searching for answers since the end of the 2017 season after Odell Haggins took over as the interim coach. Taggart may help the Seminoles answer some of those this spring as he has plenty of talent returning to the depth chart for 2018.

What are the five biggest questions facing Florida State this spring?

5. Who can replace Derwin James?

The safety position became slightly less solid when Derwin James announced his intention to depart for the NFL, leaving two years of eligibility on the table.

James was one of the most talented defensive backs at the collegiate level, finishing with 84 tackles, 5.5 for loss, one sack and two interceptions in 2017, right after missing the entire 2016 season with an injury. Not many players can miss an entire year and pick up right where they left off and remain a first-round pick, but James is that good.

Who can replace him in the secondary? One option is senior A.J. Westbrook who finished with 40 tackles and six pass breakups in 2017. He’s currently the favorite to replace James at safety, but don’t sleep on incoming safety Jaiden Woodbey. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound early enrollee safety was ranked No. 4 at his position at the high school level, per 247Sports.

Keep an eye on the battle for the starting safety spot.