Florida State football: 5 fixes to make before 2019 season

4. Improved offensive line 

In addition to running the quarterback, Willie Taggart likes to pound the rock, setting up explosive passing plays. The Noles have two great running backs in Cam Akers and Khalan Laborn.

Akers ran for over 1,000 yards his freshman year, but he is more talented than that. As a high school senior, he rushed for 2,105 yards and 34 touchdowns, passing for an additional 3,128 passing yards and 31 touchdowns. Both Alabama and Ohio State vied for his services.

The Noles need to feed the beast in 2019.

Laborn has also flashed talent, but his 2018 season was cut short due to injury and 2019 is in jeopardy due to off-the-field issues.

The point being: the Noles have the backs to make plays, but you simply can’t run the ball behind a poor offensive line. In 2018, the Noles’ running backs were the only in the Power Five to average less than a yard before contact.

There’s no easy way to fix the offensive line except through recruiting. And so far Taggart, known as an elite recruiter, is off to a disappointing start.

The Noles missed on four-star offensive guard Will Putnam out of Tampa. Putnam left the state and signed with Clemson, which shouldn’t happen.

On the bright side, the Noles did sign a potential future star in four-star offensive guard Dontae “The Pope” Lucas. Florida State also landed three-star JUCO offensive tackle Jay Williams and three-star offensive guard Maurice Smith, who flipped from Boston College.

The Noles need a lot more, though, if they’re going to turn things around—especially at offensive tackle, a notoriously difficult position to recruit.