5 reasons Florida State makes the 2019 College Football Playoff
By Daniel Stave
5. Seminoles have multiple quality QB options
Florida State has an open competition for its starting quarterback job, so no one is sure who will be leading Willie Taggart’s offense. But the team is confident that whoever claims the job will provide a better performance than what they got out of the position last year.
Deondre Francois entered the 2017 season as not only the starting quarterback, but also a Heisman candidate. He was coming off a 2016 season in which he beat out fifth-year senior Sean Maguire for the starting spot and won the ACC Rookie of the Year award with 3,350 yards and a 20-7 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
However, Francois’ season ended not long after it began, with a knee injury in the fourth quarter of the Seminoles’ 24-7 week 1 loss to Alabama. The team was forced to turn to true freshman James Blackman, who completed only 58 percent of his passes for 2,230 yards, throwing 11 interceptions to only 19 touchdowns during the disappointing season.
Francois and Blackman will compete with redshirt freshman Bailey Hockman for the job.
Francois was not medically cleared for full activity in the Spring, so he just began practicing when Fall camp opened last week. The injury is not the only distraction he had to face over the offseason.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, police found a small amount of marijuana after searching Francois’ apartment in April. Francois entered a pre-trial diversion program, but could have easily faced more serious charges. Police searched the apartment after getting a tip that Francois was dealing drugs and found packaging that was consistent with that belief in his trash.
Francois has tried to put the distractions behind him and move forward to the 2018 season. Taggart told the Orlando Sentinel, “He has put forth this effort to change the narrative, and change the perception of who he is because he’s not that person.” Taggart also mentioned Francois has moved back on campus and has been meeting with Taggart one-on-one.
Taggart is keeping an open mind about who will line up under center when the Seminoles open their 2018 season on Sep. 3 against Virginia Tech. But Francois is the considerate favorite. He has proven success in the ACC. He was recently named to the Maxwell Award watch list.
Even if Francois is beaten out by Blackman or Hockman, the Seminoles will have better quarterback play in 2018 than 2017.