Florida State football got off to a fresh start this spring under new head coach Willie Taggart. What’d we learn from the Seminoles’ spring?
Spring football is in the books for Florida State and the rest of the nation as teams will now be heading into the summer with some questions to answer, but with a better grasp on the type of season 2018 will be.
Florida State has had a strong offseason despite a major coaching change. In case you have been living under a rock, Jimbo Fisher left the Seminoles before the end of the 2017 season and he has since been replaced by former South Florida turned Oregon coach Willie Taggart. This was his dream job, and even though he was at Oregon for just one season, he couldn’t pass it up.
Taggart has his work cut out for him as the Seminoles had a rough 2017 season, going 7-6 and watching their preseason top-five ranking turn to dust after Deondre Francois’ season-ending injury in the opener against Alabama. Things are looking up after spring ball, though.
What’d we learn about the Seminoles this spring?
5. Offensive line could be an issue
While Florida State’s defensive line could be monstrous in 2018, there’s a better chance that the offensive line could be a cause for concern.
There were a couple of projected starters out for the scrimmage, but that shouldn’t have made a major difference as the line surrendered a whopping 12 sacks. Yes, 12 sacks in a four-quarter scrimmage — that’s unheard of. Some teams struggle to reach 12 sacks in an entire season, but the Seminoles’ defense was able to do that in one afternoon against that line.
The line has been a weakness for the Seminoles for a couple of years now, but in order to keep either James Blackman or Deondre Francois healthy in 2018, they need to show some sort of improvement.