With the Florida State football team's Week 1 depth chart now released and with the season opener against Notre Dame looming this Sunday, now is a perfect time for a new edition of the Warchant 3-2-1.

As always, we offer three observations, ask two questions and make one prediction.

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1 -- Treshaun Ward is the real deal

It took about five months -- and one change in vantage point -- for me to really get a sense of why former walk-on running back Treshaun Ward is going to be so important to this football team.

We saw Ward break off nice runs in the spring. We knew head coach Mike Norvell put him on scholarship earlier this year. We heard the Seminoles' coaches liked him a lot.

But it wasn't until I stood on the sideline inside FSU's Indoor Practice Facility the other day -- on the side of the field where Ward was running the ball -- that I really got a feel for what makes him special.

The offense was working to the left side of the formation, and Ward was doing a great job of following his blockers, getting low to the ground and patiently waiting for a crease to break through. Then, in an instant, he was gone, sprinting into the second level of the defense.

It was extremely impressive ... and also enlightening.

The vast majority of the time the media are at FSU practices, we're positioned high along the railing of Dick Howser Stadium, which sits adjacent to the practice fields. It's a great vantage point for certain things; we truly have a bird's-eye view of what's going on in every corner of the field.

What we don't see from up there, unfortunately, are the nuances of the plays. The way a defensive back reads a quarterback's eyes, and how the quarterback adjusts and looks him off the next time. Or how a receiver uses subtle movements to confuse a cornerback. Or in Treshaun Ward's case, the way a smaller running back -- he's listed at 5-foot-10, 192 pounds -- can use his lack of size as an advantage.

I swear, when Ward is looking for a lane to run through on some carries, it almost looks like he's playing peekabo with the defenders ... toying with them just long enough until he can hit the gas. And when he hits the gas, he is gone.

Now, he doesn't win all of those battles. And given his smaller stature, Ward is not going to run over too many defenders. There will be times he gets stopped at, or even behind, the line of scrimmage. But he's also going to break some really big runs.

Ward is listed behind Jashaun Corbin on the depth chart FSU released on Monday, and that's probably fair. Corbin is the returning starter, and he has had a great camp. But I'll personally be surprised if Ward doesn't lead the team in rushing in multiple games this season.

2 -- Defense puts a premium on speed

There were a lot of problems with Florida State's defense in 2020 ... and in 2019 and 2018 for that matter. And it's unlikely after three years of perpetually worse defenses that the Seminoles are going to flip a switch and become a great unit overnight.

But when we look at some of the position and depth chart changes implemented during the last few months, it's pretty clear that the Seminoles' coaches have conjured at least one strategy to try and shore things up -- they're throwing a lot of speed at the problem.

At every level of the defense, the emphasis appears to be on athleticism. We can see it with converted defensive end Dennis Briggs earning a starting defensive tackle position, essentially giving the Seminoles three pass-rushers at the same time. It's obvious also at weakside linebacker, where fleet-footed Kalen DeLoach has won the start; at 6-foot-1 and 220 pounds, his actual nickname on the team is "Speedy."