With the start of spring football practice less than three weeks away, the Warchant staff is looking at Five Big Questions facing the Florida State Seminoles this spring. As we count down those questions in reverse order (from No. 5 to No. 1), each installment will feature comments from Warchant publisher Gene Williams, managing editor Ira Schoffel and lead beat writer Ryan S. Clark.
Each installment also will feature a podcast discussion by our staff. The podcast will cover some of the points from the article as well as further comments from each panelist. Please be sure to read the article and also listen to the podcast.
Question 5: With FSU losing Travis Rudolph, Kermit Whitfield and Jesus Wilson – its three starting wide receivers for much of the past two seasons – how will the Seminoles overcome their lack of experience?
GENE WILLIAMS: The wide receiver position already has received its fair share of criticism the past couple years. Since the departures of Rashad Greene, Kelvin Benjamin and Kenny Shaw, the unit has been somewhat inconsistent and failed to produce many big plays. The good news is the group should see an infusion of young talent this year. The bad news is there is very little experience returning.
With Travis Rudolph’s surprising early departure to the NFL, FSU enters spring practice with just five wide receivers on scholarship. That number could drop to four if George Campbell isn’t fully recovered from the surgery he had last fall. Combined, the entire group has just five career starts entering this season. As such, this spring will be extremely important for Francois and the young receivers to get on the same page.
The good news is that there should be an upgrade in both talent and size. With the midseason injury to Bobo Wilson, Auden Tate and Nyqwan Murray saw significant playing time during the second half of the season. The young duo made the most of it with either one of the two leading the offense in receiving yards in five of FSU’s final six games. Throw in ultra-talented sophomores Keith Gavin and George Campbell (if he’s healthy) and junior Da’Vante Phillips, and there’s plenty of reason to be excited about the prospects for 2017. In fact, four of those five players were ranked among the top 200 players in the nation when they signed with FSU.
