Can Mike Norvell tap into James Blackman’s potential?

The Seminoles need consistency at quarterback. Can Norvell unlock another level in James Blackman?

The theme of James Blackman’s entire career at Florida State is, “Can you prove you are good enough?” Blackman, one of the less-heralded members of the Seminoles’ 2017 recruiting class, wasn’t even the top-rated quarterback recruit in that class. Bailey Hockman was the 4-star while Blackman was the 3-star.

Hockman has since transferred to North Carolina State, and that has left Blackman in Tallahassee continually proving he’s good enough to be the starting quarterback. As a frosh, the Glades Central High School standout was thrust into the starting role after incumbent DeAndre Francois was injured the first game of the season against Alabama.

Though unprepared and underweight — Blackman was a skinny 165 pounds as a freshman — Blackman performed admirably as a true freshman throwing for over 2,000 yards and 19 touchdowns. Despite showing flashes, including a four-touchdown performance against Southern Mississippi in their bowl game, he could not wrestle complete control of the starting job.

2018 saw a new head coach and offensive coordinator at Florida State. It would be both his second head coach and offensive coordinator. New head coach Willie Taggart would name Blackman starting quarterback, but Francois saw lots of action in 2018.

After Francois was dismissed from the team in 2019, Blackman once again found himself fighting for his job against Wisconsin transfer Alex Hornibrook. Taggart switched between Hornibrook and Blackman in 2019. After Taggart’s firing, interim head coach Odell Haggins started Blackman the remainder of the season.

Blackman won two of those games and got the Seminoles to the postseason. Unfortunately for the senior quarterback, his career has been marked by consistent inconsistency. Not only has he been pulled in and out of the lineup, but he has also had three head coaches and four offensive coordinators in four years at Florida State.

Moreover, Florida State’s offensive line has been terrible during those four years. Blackman has been sacked on 8.8 percent of his dropbacks during his career, worst in the ACC in a decade. Despite this, first-year head coach Mike Norvell believes in James Blackman. Norvell had the chance to go young with either true freshman Tate Rodemaker or Chuba Purdy. Purdy injured his collar bone and will miss most of the season, however.

Norvell has been impressed with Blackman’s hard work and improvement this offseason. If Blackman has a great season — and he has every opportunity to — he’ll have finally proven he deserves to be QB1.