Florida State football: 5 questions the Seminoles must answer in 2020

3. Florida State football questions: Can the offensive line make big strides?

As mentioned, the biggest bugaboo for the Florida State offense in the past few years — and there have been plenty of warts to sort through, to be sure — has been the play in the trenches. The Seminoles offensive line has been one of the worst units in the country. Though it may sound hyperbolic, there really wasn’t a single thing you can say that they did well in the 2019 season.

In the running game, they were consistently put out of position and asking Akers to make plays on his own. The O-line may have been even worse in the passing game, though, as they ranked 126th out of 130 FBS teams in terms of sacks allowed, conceding 48 last year. That has to change for Norvell’s offensive mind to have any chance to shine this season.

The good news is that there is experience on the interior of the offensive line. And while that may seem dubious given how bad they were, having players who have a year or more under their belts that will now be properly coached could be quite valuable. That should help but the big question mark for the unit is the tackle spots where the Noles will have two new starters in 2020.

Devontay Love-Taylor, a graduate transfer from Florida International, should take over on one side but FSU will likely have a battle for the other starting job. No matter who wins, though, there is talent in this group and, with organizational structure no longer an issue, there has to be an improvement from this group. If there isn’t, it’s not an exaggeration to say that things as a whole won’t get that much better in Norvell’s first season.