Clark: Observations from FSU Football's first practice after spring break

After a nine-day break, the Florida State football team was back out at spring practice Tuesday afternoon.

And while there was plenty of sluggishness and sloppiness at times, which was to be expected after a hiatus, the Seminoles had enough quality plays on both sides of the ball to remind us there is potential for this to be at least a decent football team in 2022.

I will touch on some of those moments right now! So get excited, sports fans!

I wanted to start with wide receiver Ja'Khi Douglas because that kid was impressive again on Tuesday -- especially in one-on-one and seven-on-seven drills -- but I'm going to give him a rest for the day and concentrate first on what I saw from the defensive line.

It started early with veteran defensive tackles coach Odell Haggins riding that bunch from the very first whistle.

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Now, Haggins is always loud and is always demanding, but in the early part of practice -- when we can hear him best because he's near the media perch -- he was making sure his players understood what was good enough. And more accurately, what wasn't good enough.

One of the young players he was coaching hardest -- and he coaches them all hard -- was freshman defensive tackle Daniel Lyons.

There might be a good reason for that attention, too. Because Lyons, who is currently a bit undersized right now at 283 pounds, has had moments where opposing offensive linemen simply can't block him. He's so quick that he's getting around guards in one-on-one drills, and he's also shown ability to split double-teams.

I have no idea how much he's going to play. Freshmen defensive tackles almost never do.

But I just know No. 95 keeps making standout plays every time I watch him. He flashes. A lot. And whether he plays a ton in 2022 or not, he looks to have the makings of a pretty solid (maybe better?) college defensive tackle.

The other player who stood out on the defensive line is, and stop me if you've heard this before, was Albany transfer Jared Verse. I saw him snatch one scholarship tight end like a little kid and throw him out of the way on a pass-rush drill.

Then, in 11-on-11s, he pretty much abused tackle Lloyd Willis on back-to-back snaps, resulting in a tackle-for-loss and then a sack.

Verse has plenty to learn. Again, nobody is expecting him to be Jermaine Johnson. But he's been mighty impressive through his first five practices in Tallahassee.

You know you're not going to get one of these observation columns without some words on the quarterbacks. So, here you go!

Tate Rodemaker looked pretty darned good yet again.

If I'm being honest, I thought he looked better than Jordan Travis for much of the day. But in 7-on-7 drills, Rodemaker did throw an interception to Greedy Vance on a pass where he was getting pressure from Quashon Fuller and might have gotten his arm hit.

Either way, it was a pick.

Travis didn't throw one of those. I'm not sure Travis has thrown one this spring. He's done a really nice job of making the simple throws and finding the open receiver, in my opinion.

But on Tuesday, I thought Rodemaker was just a bit sharper with his throws. In fact, he ended his day with back-to-back sideline passes to Kentron Poitier that were good for about 12 yards each -- one where he sprinted his right and put it right on the numbers, and another where he sprinted to his left and did the same thing.

He also ripped a throw to Johnny Wilson for about 30 yards right down the middle of the field on his first throw in 7-on-7.

Overall, I had Rodemaker completing 12 of 17 passes for roughly 200 yards in 7-on-7 and 11-on-11. His biggest pass was a well-thrown 50-yard strike to Darion Williamson down the middle of the field in 7-on-7.

Travis wasn't bad. I had him at 11-of-16 on the day, but most of his completions were short tosses outside to the backs. His biggest completion was a 35-yarder to Keyshawn Helton in which there was a coverage bust in 7-on-7. Travis also just overthrew a couple of passes that could have been big gains.

A.J. Duffy wasn't nearly as sharp as the other two, at least in my opinion. But he was also working with a lot of the younger offensive linemen.

And because he's Duffy, I need to add this: I thought he had the two most impressive throws of the day. Racing to his right to avoid pressure in 11-on-11, he managed to stop before the sideline and rocket a 35-yard pass to Deuce Spann down the right sideline.

Then, on his next series, he rolled to his left, stopped on a dime to make a rusher miss, and then fired an 18-yard strike in the middle of the field to Joshua Burrell.

Impressive stuff from the freshman. He makes a couple of wow-type throws seemingly every practice.

*ALSO SEE: Schoffel: A closer look at why FSU didn't bring in a transfer QB in January

Linebacker transfer Tatum Bethune looked good yet again. He just fills a hole differently than we've seen around here in a good, long while. Running back Treshaun Ward talked about him after practice on Tuesday, saying he thinks he'll have a big hole he's about to hit, and then No. 15 appears seemingly out of nowhere to close it up.

Bethune definitely makes the defense better. I don't know if he'll be the best linebacker in the conference, but he's definitely the best linebacker on this team.

Also, it was good to see Jarrett Jackson winning some battles on Tuesday. The Louisville transfer could be a key contributor on this line if he can finally figure it out and find himself. Mike Norvell talked multiple times last season about his talent and what he could mean to the defense if he put it all together. One practice in the spring certainly isn't cause for celebration, but it sure looked like a positive step.

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