FSU comes up empty at QB again, but Taggart insists he has a 'plan'

Florida State's inability to sign a high school quarterback in either of the last two recruiting cycles has many fans in an uproar, but if Seminoles head coach Willie Taggart is overly concerned, he wasn't showing it at his Signing Day press conference Wednesday.

Taggart acknowledged that the Seminoles need additional depth at the position, but he added that he feels good about the options that are available to his team heading into 2019.

"We have a plan -- I think a pretty good plan," the second-year head coach said. "I don't necessarily want to discuss it right now, where we want to go. We've had this place in place. ..."

Despite Taggart's assurances, it has appeared to be one highly publicized whiff after another at the position, starting when he was tasked with trying to salvage FSU’s 2018 recruiting class in short order. Taggart appeared to have the Seminoles in the running to land athletic Georgia signal-caller Emory Jones, but he ended up signing with Florida.

Then there was the Sam Howell situation this past December. Howell was committed to FSU for months but flipped to North Carolina after former offensive coordinator Walt Bell left to become head coach at UMass. Losing Howell would have been bad enough, but it was compounded by the fact that the Seminoles apparently slow-played other QBs because Howell and his family were concerned about competition.

Then this week, Florida State missed out on two more top QB targets. Mississippi quarterback John Rhys Plumlee chose Ole Miss on Monday, then New Orleans signal-caller Lance Legendre opted for Maryland on Wednesday.

That leaves FSU with only two scholarship quarterbacks at the present time -- redshirt sophomore James Blackman and Louisville transfer Jordan Travis. Blackman is the clear frontrunner to be the Seminoles' starting quarterback this fall following the recent dismissal of veteran Deondre Francois.

Taggart addressed the quarterback position on Wednesday multiple times, saying the staff has to do a better job of recognizing the type of players they want on the FSU roster.