Florida State Football: How does Alex Hornibrook fit with Noles?

Former Wisconsin quarterback Alex Hornibrook is a strange fit with Florida State football, but he could play a huge roll in the Seminoles’ resurgence.

The Seminoles need Alex Hornibrook’s leadership and experience, but more than anything they need the depth he provides. Before his announcement, Florida State looked to enter the 2019 season with only one scholarship quarterback on the roster, James Blackman.

With one of the worst offensive lines in the country and an offense that likes to run the quarterback, this was a frightening prospect, especially given Blackman’s incredibly slight frame (6-foot-5 and somewhere between 169 and 185 pounds, depending on who you talk to and whether the sun is shining in Tallahassee).

The move makes little sense from Hornibrook’s perspective. Either he quickly learns the offense, has a great camp, somehow wrests the starting job and the locker room from James Blackman, and then runs for his life or gets killed behind an (at best) average offensive line. Or, in his last year of eligibility, he’s relegated to a back-up role after being a multi-year starter at Wisconsin, where he would have likely remained the starter in 2019.

The situation is much easier to understand from Florida State’s perspective. Although Hornibrook might not be the perfect fit for Taggart’s power-spread offense, he offers desperately needed depth, as well as valuable experience, leadership, and competition.