And then there were seven.
Although the Florida State football team has 12 scholarship offensive linemen on its spring roster, the Seminoles have just seven available entering the final week of spring drills. That could make for some interesting challenges during Saturday's annual Garnet & Gold Game, which will be played at 6 p.m. at Doak Campbell Stadium.
Senior center Alec Eberle has been out all spring while recovering from an injury, as has sophomore center/guard Baveon Johnson. Offensive tackle Jauan Williams, who opened the spring as a contender to start at left tackle, has been sidelined for the last couple of weeks.
Junior guard Cole Minshew has been in and out of the lineup this spring with an ankle or foot injury; he was out Monday and walked with the aid of a scooter. And tackle/guard Abdul Bello was on the sideline with the rehabbing players on Monday.
It was no surprise, then, that the first public comment head coach Willie Taggart made Monday when asked about the Seminoles’ Saturday scrimmage was about the depleted offensive front.
“We don’t have as much depth on the OL right now, because of injuries,” Taggart said, when asked about his big takeaway from the scrimmage. “Guys are working a lot of different positions. So it wasn’t as consistent as you would like it to be. But our guys fought through it and did some good things.”
*ALSO SEE: Observations, notes from Monday's practice
During the early portion of Monday’s practice, the media were able to see a couple of different versions of the offensive line.
One had redshirt sophomore Mike Arnold at left tackle and senior Derrick Kelly at left guard. The other had Kelly at left tackle and redshirt freshman Brady Scott at left guard. The other three spots were consistent -- senior Corey Martinez at center, junior Landon Dickerson at right guard and redshirt sophomore Josh Ball at right tackle.
The only other linemen available were true freshman Christian Armstrong and junior walk-on Andrew Basham.
Taggart acknowledged that the lack of depth has made it challenging for the remaining offensive linemen, who are all cross-training at different positions, but he said there’s no use in complaining about it.
Kelly, for example, has played both tackle positions and both guard spots this spring.
“Yeah, you would like more consistent play and guys at a position and just let ‘em go,” Taggart said. “But we’re not in a situation where we can do that right now.”
The good news is that none of those OL injuries are expected to carry over to the fall. And the Seminoles also should have three more scholarship offensive linemen coming in this summer -- Christian Meadows, Jalen Goss and Chaz Neal.
The offensive line isn’t the only position dealing with attrition this spring.
The running back unit, which is expected to be a team strength, had just four players available Monday, and one of those was walk-on Blaik Middleton.
Sophomore Cam Akers was on the sideline with the players rehabbing injuries, and redshirt freshman Zaquandre White was not seen during the portion that was open to the media.
Junior Amir Rasul, senior Jacques Patrick and redshirt freshman Khalan Laborn were the only scholarship running backs going through drills.
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