8/22/2022 football Edit

Five observations from Florida State football's Week 0 depth chart

Curt Weiler • TheOsceola

Senior Writer

Florida State football game week is here.

And that means that we finally have a depth chart for the Seminoles' season-opening game against Duquesne Saturday at 5 p.m. on ACC Network.

Some things on the depth chart were obvious, like Jordan Travis' appointment as starting quarterback. Other things were a bit more surprising.

Here are five quick observations from FSU's first depth chart of the season.

Click here for a look at FSU's full depth chart

No Maurice Smith?

It was known entering game week that FSU will be without Wisconsin offensive line transfer Kayden Lyles, who suffered a season-ending injury this preseason. However, FSU will actually be without its top two projected centers for its first game of the season.

In a not-so-well-kept secret, FSU center Maurice Smith has been a bit limited this preseason, missing some time which led to him being left off the two-deep depth chart this week.

Head coach Mike Norvell confirmed Monday that Smith will miss the Duquesne game after getting "banged up" throughout preseason camp. Norvell did say FSU is looking forward to getting him back very, very soon, but that leads to Darius Washington being listed as FSU's center for this week with Thomas Shrader as his backup.

Washington did play some center a season ago when Smith was limited, but he's had more extended time this preseason to work at the position. When playing center, he's only had a few snapping issues and FSU offensive coordinator Alex Atkins said he's experienced and smart enough to handle the pre-snap duties normally handled by the center.

Norvell didn't provide any clear timetable for Smith's return. If he was able to return for next week's game against LSU, it would further boost FSU's OL depth, but it does bear mentioning that the 10 additions to FSU's offensive line this offseason have boosted that unit's floor by a significant margin.

Newcomers galore on right side of offensive line

In addition to Washington at center, it looks like there will be a few new faces that will be manning the right side of FSU's offensive line this season.

Lamar transfer Bless Harris is listed as the starting right tackle, where he has lined up for the majority of the preseason. It was definitely a question when Harris arrived of where he would line up and if he would compete for a starting job.

He's been one of the biggest surprises of the offseason, standing out and making the move from FCS to FBS look far easier than it probably is in actuality.

At right guard, the two transfer additions this summer, D'Mitri Emmanuel and Jazston Turnetine, are listed as co-starters. Both bring valuable experience at the FBS level. Regardless of who starts between those two, the other will likely be a swing lineman as Atkins values versatility and has cross-trained his players at quite a few spots this preseason.

On the other side of the line, true freshman Julian Armella is listed as the backup left tackle behind Robert Scott. Whether he would actually step into the starting lineup if Scott went down remains to be seen. But Armella's spot on the two-deep confirms exactly how impressive his first preseason at FSU has been.

It also bears mentioning that Norvell said there could be some more shifts on the offensive line depth chart this week before Saturday's game.

Wide receiver totem pole

Another one of the more pleasant surprises of FSU's preseason has been the continuing improvement of the wide receiver unit as a whole. Entering Monday, it was going to be interesting to see how these players were listed on the depth chart.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, its where two of the four "ORs" denoting co-starters were listed. At the three wide receiver spots on the two-deep, only one has a sole starter in Oregon transfer Mycah Pittman. Although I would have thought that could be the slot position, the fact that Kentron Poitier is listed as his backup leads me to believe there are no clear receiver positions specified.

The other two wide receiver spots both have co-starters. Ontaria Wilson or Deuce Spann are listed at one spot while Malik McClain or Johnny Wilson are listed at the other spot.

Reading between the lines a bit, this tells me a few things. One, exactly how the wide receiver reps break down may be a work in progress depending on how guys perform in games. Two, that players will be asked to fill a number of roles that may not fall solely into lining up at one spot.

At tight end, FSU has two spots, listing Camren McDonald and Markeston Douglas as the two starters.

Only two linebackers

After FSU largely only used two linebackers at a time in a 4-2-5 defense last season, it was expected entering the season that would be the case again the majority of the time this season.

FSU's depth chart definitely confirms that is the case. In 2021, FSU listed 12 defensive spots, including four defensive linemen, three linebackers (one a stud) and five defensive back spots.

This year's depth chart only has 11 spots on the defense, dropping the stud position and only listing two starting linebacker spots. UCF transfer Tatum Bethune is listed as the starter at one spot with fifth-year senior Amari Gainer as his backup. Kalen DeLoach and DJ Lundy are listed as the co-starters at the other spot.

This is as clear a sign as anything we have seen that FSU will use just two linebackers a large portion of the time once again this season.

New faces on special teams

While FSU has returning starters at kicker and punter, there should be quite a few new faces at the kick and punt returner spots this season.

Spann and freshman cornerback Sam McCall are co-starters at one of the kick return spots. Pittman is the starter at the other KR spot, backed up by running back Lawrance Toafili.

With regard to punt returner, Pittman is the starter and his backups are McCall or Keyshawn Helton.

FSU special teams coordinator John Papuchis talked Monday about how he's been thinking lately of how badly the Seminoles need a big special teams return. There's reason to believe this group of players will improve on the problems FSU has had there and could give FSU the big-play ability it has been missing.