Florida State football: No rebuild needed under Taggart

Willie Taggart is looking to usher in a new era of Florida State football. The schedule is tough, and the team is young, but they have the talent to compete.

For the first time in decades, it’s time for a new era at Florida State. After hiring Jimbo Fisher from within the program under Bobby Bowden, Willie Taggart is the first non-Bowden related coach in more than 40 years.

With him comes a new style of play, a new kind of recruiting, and a swagger that we haven’t seen in Tallahassee in a very long time, probably since Bowden’s peak in the 90s. Taggart’s exciting offense will be a welcome change and could be what the Seminoles need to bounce back.

The bounce back may not happen in year one, however. After going 7-6 last season, FSU has talent, but a ton of youth, especially on defense. This is an extremely inexperienced team, and if they want to survive this schedule, they’ve got to age quickly.

Jimbo Fisher may have left the program in a bit of a huff, and he may have taken the entire year off last year, but he didn’t leave the cupboard bare. He was an excellent recruiter, and Taggart came in and salvaged the 2018 group in the final weeks.

The 2018 class could be on the field quickly in Tallahassee. With top defenders like Jaiden Woodbey, and openings in the defense, it’s not too hard to imagine a youth movement. Will they be talented enough to survive that?

Offense

There are plenty of questions on offensive, but the biggest one is at the most important position on the field. Quarterbacks Deondre Francois and James Blackmon both have arguments for the starting job. It’s up to Taggart to pick his signal caller.

Both of them are capable runners, who had up and down first seasons, with Francois’ coming in 2016, and Blackmon’s coming last year as he filled in for his injured predecessor. He wasn’t awesome, but he was pretty good, as true freshmen go. Whoever Taggart picks should be able to run his offense well, and will have a ton of talent around them.

That talent starts at running back, with one of the most exciting backs in the nation, Cam Akers. Akers was one of last year’s few bright spots and should continue to shine this year. Jacques Patrick, the number two back, would start for most teams, and could be in for a big year, even if he has to split carries.

The receivers should also be very fun if they can find consistency. Nyqwan Murray leads the group and was the best receiver on the team in 2017. He needs to stay healthy, but his ability to make big plays makes him a huge asset.

Behind him is a core of talent that hasn’t proved itself yet. Keith Gavin has all the hype in the world but has never really put it all together. D.J. Matthews is young but fits perfectly as a slot receiver in this offense. George Campbell seems like the last receiver likely to see a ton of playing time, but there’s a solid stable of young, highly touted receivers behind him.

The biggest weakness on this offense is probably up front. They stunk last year, but plenty of production is back, and the coach that contributed to the stinking is gone. In a new system, we should see improvement.

So, about that new system

I’ve talked about it a little bit, but let’s focus on what Taggart likes to do on offense. He’s an up-tempo, true spread, modern offensive genius. The complete opposite from the slow, unwieldy, complicated Fisher offense.

That should benefit just about everyone here. The quarterback will finally be allowed to run the football, especially on designed options. It’ll give backs more space. Defenders won’t be able to load the box anymore. FSU is finally heading into the modern era. That’s great news.

Defense

While their offense was wildly inconsistent last season, Florida State’s defense was generally pretty strong, though they did struggle against elite offenses. That’ll likely continue into this season, though it’ll happen with new faces. This group is extremely talented, but just four starters are back. Six projected starters are underclassmen. Risky.

Two starters are back up front, in what should be an awesome line. Brian Burns and Demarcus Christmas will lead the group, with a duo of former blue-chip recruits in Marvin Wilson and Joshua Kaindoh beside them. All four saw at least some playing time last year, and while neither of the two newer faces are very experienced, they’re more than talented enough to thrive.

The linebackers, on the other hand, are completely new. All three starters from last year are gone. The guys that are here, however, do have a little experience, either at FSU last year or in JUCO. Adonis Thomas and Dontavious Jackson have been around college football for a little while now, and while I don’t expect either to be excellent, they should be serviceable.

All things indicate that they’ll be bringing freshman Jaiden Woodbey along with them. He’s more of a hybrid than a true linebacker, but that’s exactly what Willie Taggart wants. If Woodbey is ready, he should start. If he’s not, it could go to Emmett Rice, Leonard Warner, or DeCalon Brooks. None of them have a ton of experience, but they’re older than Jaiden.

The defensive backfield should serve as a steadying force. Levonta Taylor looks like the next lockdown corner at FSU, and Stanford Samuels isn’t far behind him. The safety trio of Cyrus Fagan, Hamsah Nasirildeen and AJ Westbrook is just as young as the rest of the defense, but like the rest of the defense, has plenty of talent.

What can we expect?

This is a really weird year for Florida State, and that applies to the defense as well. It’s really hard to guess what this team looks like in 2018. This is uncharted territory in Tallahassee, and with such a young team, I could be talked into just about anything happening. I’m a little more sure about the defense than the offense, despite its youth.

What does a good defense look like for FSU this year though? Top 30? Top 10? What are fair expectations from a group that really didn’t get to prove themselves last year? My answer, right now, if they stay healthy, is probably top 25. I think with this talent, that’s fairly reasonable. They’ll need the young guys to step up, but that isn’t out of the question.

Schedule and Prediction

Looking for an easy start to the Willie Taggart era, with a slower start for the young players to get acclimated? Well, you’re not getting it. This is one of the toughest schedules in the country, and as soon as the ACC portion of it hits in full (October), every week will be a fight. The non-conference isn’t awful, but Notre Dame and Florida should both be tough.

Prediction: 8-4

I think this season gets off on the right foot for Florida State, as they start hot, with four straight wins. They slow down quickly, losing to Louisville and Miami, but get back on track with a win off the bye week. Clemson feels like a loss, but I think they can grab wins over NC State, Boston College and Florida, with just one more loss to Notre Dame to finish the year 8-4.

Realistically, they probably lose to either Virginia Tech or NC State, and finish 7-5. From a ceiling perspective, with this talent, I could see them beating every team on this schedule that isn’t Clemson or Miami. I’m not ready to call for that, however, so we’ll go with a happy medium, and a pretty encouraging start under Taggart.