Florida State head football coach Mike Norvell and offensive coordinator Alex Atkins likely aren't satisfied with the offensive line they have assembled heading into the 2022 season -- even after picking up a commitment Monday night from Charlotte transfer D'Mitri Emmanuel.
The Seminoles' front line could always be better. It could definitely be deeper.
But based solely on Pro Football Focus grades from this past season, if the Seminoles' top group does stay healthy, there's reason to believe this could be FSU's best offensive line since 2016 or 2017. And it could be substantially better than the groups Seminole fans have been watching since that time.
With the addition of Emmanuel, who was a three-year starter at Charlotte, FSU should have at least six offensive linemen who posted grades of over 60.0 last season. (According to PFF, 60.0 is the grade of an average college football player at any position.)
So that means the Seminoles should expect to have six above-average offensive linemen to choose from, along with a couple more reserves with the potential to play at -- or close to -- that level.
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That is a night-and-day difference from what FSU's offensive line looked like when Norvell and Atkins arrived in late 2019, and perhaps significantly better than what we witnessed in 2021.
Last season, FSU had three starting offensive linemen grade out above 60.0: Tackles Robert Scott (66.6) and Darius Washington (64.2), and guard Dillan Gibbons (65.1). Reserve guard Brady Scott posted a grade of 64.9, but he essentially only played in five of 12 games.
If super senior Devontay Love-Taylor had been healthy, he likely would have given the Seminoles another above-average lineman; one year earlier, he graded out higher than any other player on the line at 72.9. But the FIU transfer was far from 100 percent entering the 2021 campaign and never got up to full speed. He finished with the lowest mark of any lineman in the rotation at 49.7.
Going back one year earlier to 2020, the Seminoles had just two starting offensive linemen grade out above 60.0. Love-Taylor's 72.9 led the way, followed by then-freshman Robert Scott at 66.2. Two FSU reserves were over 60.0 as well -- Washington (61.3) and guard Andrew Boselli (61.8) -- but they both played sparingly.
And in 2018 and '19 -- Willie Taggart's two seasons as head coach -- Florida State had just one offensive lineman grade out above 60.0 in each season. In 2019, it was guard Dontae Lucas at 61.7; in 2018, it was guard Cole Minshew at 61.4. Every other lineman in each season graded out below 60.0, with most coming in far below that number.
The story should be much different in 2022.
Even though the Seminoles lost three of their top seven linemen from a year ago, the ones who returned might have been the best of the bunch -- particularly Gibbons, Scott and Washington. And all three of the OL transfers FSU has landed this offseason -- D'Mitri Emmanuel from Charlotte, Bless Harris from Lamar and Kayden Lyles from Wisconsin -- graded out at above 60.0 at their previous schools.
If all of those linemen play to their levels of the past, that would give FSU at least six guys in the "above average" category, including all five starters. That's something no Florida State team has been able to claim since 2016. The 2017 Seminoles had four starters check in at above 60.0, but fifth starter Josh Ball was just below that mark at 57.1.
To give you a clearer picture of just how far Florida State's offensive line has come in the last three years, here are the PFF grades for FSU's top seven or eight linemen in each season. The five listed first were the primary starters, followed by the top reserves.
Note: The 2022 numbers are projections carried over from 2021, either at FSU or previous schools. ... Overall grades above 60.0 are in bold.
This line obviously was a complete mess due to poor OL recruiting in the final years of Jimbo Fisher's tenure and some attrition related to the coaching change. The highest grade went to true freshman Dontae Lucas, who was barely above that 60.0 mark. As a group, the starting five had an average grade of 53.28.
The 2020 group received a major upgrade in the form of FIU transfer Devontay Love-Taylor, who was actually well above average. Robert Scott also showed some nice potential as a true freshman stepping into a starting role. But while the entire group took a step forward in Alex Atkins' first season, Lucas took a significant step backward. As a group, the starting five had an average grade of 59.32.
FSU's offensive line was helped by another transfer in 2021, this time former Notre Dame reserve Dillan Gibbons. He and the two tackles -- Scott and Washington -- each posted grades above 60.0. This group unfortunately was hurt by injury, with Love-Taylor and Maurice Smith both having down seasons due to ailments. And the segment's lack of depth forced them to stay in the lineup for much of the season. As a group, the starting five had an average grade of 59.24.
It's too early to know which five linemen will be the starters this fall, but Lyles or Emmanuel would need to be in the starting lineup for the Seminoles to have five starters returning with above-average grades. As a group, this starting group could have an average grade of 64.52.
It's also worth noting that Lyles' numbers from the 2020 season were even better than the ones listed from '21; he posted a 65.8 overall grade in four games that season.
If Smith does keep the starting center job, there's a realistic chance his grades will be much better than they were last fall. He sustained a back injury early in the season and never seemed to fully recover.
Norvell and Atkins have said they prefer to have a group of eight linemen available at all times, but they didn't seem to have a dependable eighth option last season. Unless they pick up another transfer this offseason, that eighth player in 2022 could come down to a little-used underclassmen -- Thomas Shrader, Lloyd Willis, Bryson Estes or Zane Herring -- or even a true freshman.
While that's not ideal, having an unproven player as your eighth option is obviously much better than throwing one or two into the starting lineup, which FSU has had to do in the recent past.
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