With the heat index soaring above 100 degrees on Friday, Florida State's first afternoon practice of the preseason offered some challenging elements to the Seminoles' players.
In the first 30 or 40 minutes, at least two players had to leave drills because they were feeling ill (before Friday, all of the preseason practices had been held in the cooler mornings).
There was the occasional breeze, which helped a bit. At one point during an offensive line drill, sophomore guard Brady Scott felt the wind sweep across the field and got visibly excited. "Woooh, feel that breeze!" he said. "The good Lord is looking out for us. God is good!"
Soon, the team would receive more substantial relief as cloud cover made the conditions bearable, and the team was able to practice for well over two hours.
Friday marked the start of the second week of preseason, and the media was allowed to watch for the first 35 or 40 minutes. Here are some observations, including depth chart movement, impressive performances and more.
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Defensive depth chart coming into focus
After one week of preseason drills, it appears that we're starting to get some clarity with FSU's defensive depth chart, particularly when talking about the front-seven. And with the Seminoles operating primarily from a 3-4 formation, we'll focus on what we've seen of the two-deep rotation at those positions.
Senior Dontavious Jackson is perhaps the only clear-cut starter at any of the four linebacker spots. He will man the middle linebacker position, where he racked up 75 tackles and 7.0 tackles for loss last season.
The other starting inside linebacker -- the "Money" linebacker -- is expected to be either DeCalon Brooks or Jaiden Lars-Woodbey. Brooks was running with the first-team defense for most of the first week, but it appeared that Lars-Woodbey might have been with the starters during our limited media viewing on Friday. We'll have to keep an eye on that at Saturday's practice and moving forward.
