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

2. Florida State football questions: Does the secondary live up to its talent?

Though they may not have produced as many first-round caliber defensive backs as other programs, Florida State football does have a strong recent history in terms of producing high-end defensive backs, most notably sending Jalen Ramsey and Derwin James to the NFL. There has simply long been talent running through this group but that doesn’t exactly mesh with the poor pass defense that they’ve displayed recently.

That remains true coming out of the 2019 season. Asante Samuel Jr. is one of the better cornerbacks in college football, registering 15 passes defended last season. Moreover, safety Hamsah Nasirildeen is an absolute freak of nature on the back end with elite athleticism to go with a bullish 6-foot-4 frame. Yet, they failed to consistently shut down opposing pass-catchers last season.

Part of that is undoubtedly due to the aforementioned lack of a pass rush. If the guys up front are giving opposing quarterbacks all day to throw the football, then you can only ask defensive backs to cover but for so long. So that is in play. But the secondary itself doesn’t escape blame as they still need to rise to the occasion.

This is another instance in which having a stable institutional structure being put into place by Norvell and Fuller could help tremendously. This Florida State secondary has the elite talent within it and the hope is that a change on the sidelines and in the locker room can finally start to unlock that so that it yields results on the field.