Denny and James complete the post mordem of the Jags’ loss to the Steelers and consider who they might take in the 2019 draft. They also preview FSU/Florida
https://soundcloud.com/sportsden_live/sports-den-nov-19-2018
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Denny and James break down the Jaguars’ loss to the Steelers, take calls
https://soundcloud.com/sportsden_live/sports-den-nov-18-2018
See additional info on: Sports Den Blog
Denny and James discuss the Jaguars matchup with the Steelers, and take calls from the fans.
https://soundcloud.com/sportsden_live/sports-den-nov-15-2018
See additional information on: Sports Den Jax Blog
I typically stay out of the crowded recruiting landscape, but every now and then something comes across my desk that piques my interest. I stay out of it because I don’t understand the rankings or what goes into them.
I look at prospects in two ways: either I believe they can play Power 5 football or I don’t.
When evaluation a prospect’s film, I look for explosiveness, separation and the “it” factor.
The last prospect to pique my interest enough to write about was Jordan “Abusement Park” Young from the Atlanta metro area. DJ Williams from Sebring, FL could/should be the next prospect to shoot up the rankings like Young did. He’s currently a three-star running back. I like three stars and his film reminds me of Cam Akers coming out of high school. He’s projected as a running back in college even though he plays QB at Sebring.
What’s impressive about him?
His size for one. At 5’11 and 210 pounds he has nice size for a running back coming out of high school. Watching his Huddle highlights show him doing things that I like to see running backs do: see the hole, hit it, make one cut, and accelerate away from defenders, only running over people when he has to.
It’s one thing to be able to just run away from people, but he has multiple highlights showing him out-running angles. The ability to do that in Florida at the 6A level with good sized programs is very impressive. In one play he outran folks to score a 70-yard touchdown with only one shoe.
Williams is currently committed to Appalachian State, but has an offer list including Miami (11/23 visit), UGA (12/14) and Auburn, who he just visited, according to 247 Sports. I have heard there is some interest with FSU in Williams. FSU is looking at bringing the right type of running back into this class and this is a kid who I believe can climb up the rankings if the “experts” go back and evaluate what is on his film from this season.
What would make this “get” more impressive for Willie Taggart is that Williams’ head coach, LaVaar Scott, is a Miami alum.
Taggart has said “they’ve got to stop recruiting off the internet.” This is one of the guys who I feel fits Taggart’s War Daddy and Bad Ass profile. It’s easy and exciting discussing the four and five-star prospects, but, man, I love 3 stars with a chip on their shoulder.
Williams could be the Jordan Young of the 2019 class.
Article Originally Appeared on Gridiron Now: http://gridironnow.com/seminole-fans-should-keep-an-eye-on-class-of-2019-rb-dj-williams/
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FSU enters Saturday’s contest against Boston College having suffered three consecutive blowout losses. BC is a team that I referenced in the preseason as one to watch. They are a talented team based on NFL-caliber talent and have done a good job developing talent that fits their system. They are a hard-nosed team.
Offensively, they like to run down hill and be physical. They want to dominate the line of scrimmage and time of possession with their potent run game. AJ Dillon is one of the leading rushers in the ACC. Dillion is on pace for his second straight 1000 yard season.
Coming into this game, BC’s already pedestrian passing game should be hindered further with starting quarterback Anthony Brown probably out due to an injury. Even with him in the game, their passing offense wasn’t much of a threat. He had barely over 1500 yards passing and their best receiver has under 400 yards receiving on the season.
BC’s offense’s greatest strength is Dillon, who suffered an ankle injury last week against Clemson.
These are the two biggest factors working in FSU’s favor as the Noles have faced three potent offenses in a row in Clemson, NC State and Notre Dame. The downside is they gave up a ton of yards on the ground in those games to Travis Etienne of Clemson, Notre Dame’s Dexter Williams and N.C. State’s Reggie Gallaspy. FSU’s defense has been able to make average players look superior and while Etienne and Williams are top backs, Gallaspy is ordinary.
One thing different about BC is they have struggled against more athletic defensive fronts giving up 18 sacks on the season. With the starting QB out and Dillon banged up, this could be an advantage to FSU with Brian Burns putting up better numbers than FSU has seen in the last few seasons in terms of sacks and QB pressures. FSU is also going to need big games out of Marvin Wilson, Corey Durden, and Robert Cooper inside to help contain the run.
Defensively, BC is strong. They are in the upper half in total defense, but more importantly, do a good job pressuring the quarterback and causing turnovers. It’s difficult to see where FSU can exploit them.
FSU’s run game is simply non-existent. Statistically, Deondre Francois is the second best passer in the ACC, but outside of Wake Forest, he hasn’t been able to show that he is one of the best offensive weapons in the conference.
RELATED: Rumors surrounding FSU QBs calls into question Willie Taggart’s leadership.
He plays behind an offensive line that is one of the worst in the nation going against a defensive unit that ranks third in the conference and 18th in the nation. BC also ranks first in the conference in interceptions and fourth in fumbles recovered.
Essentially, they are a better and more disciplined version of Miami and the best defensive unit FSU has seen, statistically, outside of Clemson.
One place where BC hasn’t been great is special teams and penalties. FSU isn’t tops in the conference either, but Boston College is one of the worst teams in giving up return yards in both kick off and punt coverage. This is a place where D.J. Matthews can give FSU an edge.
Playing the field position game could be the route that gives FSU the best chance of success. In each of its four blowout losses, FSU had terrible starting field position and while FSU averages 9.3 penalties a game, BC averages almost seven and last week, FSU had one of its least penalized games with only five coming against Notre Dame.
This is a winnable game which comes down to pride for FSU and which FSU team will show up. The match-up is similar to the Miami game, but the FSU team from last month is much different from the team taking the field the past couple weeks. The product has been a shell of a Power 5 program. With advantages defensively due to injury and on special teams opportunities, fans can hope for a close game if not a victory.
Football is a simple game. Play good defense, be sound in the kicking game, don’t turn the ball over, and good things happen.
Do this, don’t panic, don’t give up, and FSU can create momentum. Momentum wins games. Do Something. I mean, anything.
RELATED: Turnaround for Florida State may be closer than you think.
Article Originally Appeared on Gridiron Now: http://gridironnow.com/florida-states-blueprint-for-beating-boston-college
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“Average teammates are INTERESTED in their teammates. Great teammates are INVESTED in their teammates.” – Tom Crean
Don’t get fooled by the win-loss record, the most important thing for first year coach is recruiting – assembling the talent necessary to have sustained excellence. Obviously wins and losses can impact recruiting, but it’s not a consistent, definitive factor.
Recruiting is weird. Recruits don’t view football and where they will spend their careers the same as fans do.
FSU will miss out on top prospects for the Class of 2019, five-star defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux being the main one. A potential benefit of this season, however, could be forcing the staff to look at what is important beyond size and speed and that’s finding guys who not only want to be Seminoles, but want to play an integral role turning the program around.
No elite athlete ever wants to lose, but in the losses you can see something abundantly clear: FSU has major holes to fill across the roster. What is not so clear is how quickly those holes can be filled.
I’m of the thought that it’s not as bad as your eyes are showing you.
I detailed mistakes against Notre Dame earlier this week. FSU isn’t being whipped because of schemes, the Noles are being whipped because they’re playing uninspired football and have been unable to replace key performers lost over recent years. Fans speak of football in terms of video games. You don’t just lose a top player and the next guy comes in and does the job.
Hell, the coaches have trotted out a different offensive line combination each week. You think they haven’t tried putting better players out there? The reality is the fix cannot happen with the current roster.
Here are the major holes on this team and how likely these holes can be fixed this off-season.
Incoming freshman quarterback Sam Howell and another option, potentially a JUCO or grad transfer, will add depth along with competition. Howell is obviously the key to this class with FSU losing out on many QB targets last football season.
I believe that Francois is more than likely gone after this year, but if he stays, FSU might have depth we haven’t had since right before the 2015 season.
FSU needs someone who can be the alpha of all the alphas in this role. I see that potential with Howell in how he influences other recruits. You want your QB being the guy helping land recruits.
The offensive line has two talented commits in Charles Cross and Deonte Lucas already. I believe every year you need to sign four or five offensive lineman to help create competition, stave off attrition, and maintain quality depth. I’m also of the belief that the line is not as bad as most think when factoring in the injuries it has sustained and the player losses this offseason.
I’m hearing FSU is in the mix for several major JUCO lineman including former Nole Josh Ball. If Willie Taggart can land an Evan Neal and a Will Putnam, then he’s got a good class on paper.
FSU realistically only needs two new starters, one of which you technically should’ve had in Ball had he not gotten in trouble.
Everything else offensively is a luxury. You would like to sign a wide receiver, but you don’t have to sign one that isn’t truly elite.
I believe Taggart has a good shot at flipping current Auburn commit and four-star wide receiver George Pickens.
The Noles don’t need a running back this cycle with a talented backfield returning and hopefully the return to health of Khalan Laborn.
The fundamental flaw I believe the defense coaching staff made this season was changing entirely too much. Harlon Barnett was knowledgeable in a 4-2-5 concept (four down linemen, two linebackers, five defensive backs) and the defense was recruited for that alignment. The major personnel gaps are linebacker and safety.
Linebacker should be immediately effected by Amari Gainor getting healthy and becoming one year better. Dontavious Jackson has been good and bad and you’d hope he will vastly improve next season. Signing one or two linebackers to come in and make an immediate impact would do wonders not only to the position group, but the entire defense.
FSU already has two talented commits in Jaleel McRae and Kalen DeLoach. Both should receive immediate playing time. It would be nice to find one more. Trezman Marshall would be good.
Safety, or maybe even the secondary all around, definitely needs to be addressed. A lot of the confusion and blown coverages can be attributed to lack of knowledge of the position. Moving Stanford Samuels III out of his natural position of corner to safety might have been a factor in losing one of the defense’s strengths coming into 2018, one of many. This is where keeping Nick Cross, whose family has made his recruiting interesting, along with Brendan Gant, are a major priorities. So too are Travis Jay and Akeem Dent who can play multiple positions in the secondary.
Like on offense, FSU doesn’t need to overhaul the defense to see significant improvements – upgrades at critical positions is the key.
Assuming Brian Burns leaves early for the NFL, adding an elite pass rusher in this class is important. I believe the ship has sailed on Thibodeaux so I’d explore giving a close look to the better edge rushers in junior college.
Defensive ends coach Mark Snyder has helped Burns development and I’m hoping he’s able to do the same with Janarius Robinson and Joshua Kaindoh.
I think Odell Haggins has him something with the trio of Marvin Wilson, Cory Durden and Robert Cooper along the interior line.
The identity of the recruiting classes moving forward have to be less about stars and more about finding athletes who are invested in what they can bring to the program. It’s not about dancing or uniform combos. Those should be perks of transforming the program and bringing back the old bad ass days of playing at Florida State.
I see it in the 2018 class and bringing in 25 more like-minded and team-focused individuals should transform this program back to some semblance of competitive football.
It may take two more classes, but I believe a mix of the 2017 class along with Taggart’s two recruiting classes should provide a fix.
FSU fans should look to rivals for indicators of what impatience and real problems look like. Miami is in year three with its their latest coaching hire and has reverted back to old habits after a 10-win second season. The Canes are one game better than FSU with a staff, identity, and recruits in place.
Florida is on its third coach in five years. All three coaches achieved success early which the first two couldn’t sustain. Florida never provided Will Muschamp or Jim McElwain the opportunity to have their players operate in their respective systems. UF allowed fan pressure to force multiple changes to their coaching staffs which also might’ve delayed results.
Fans should be disappointed because FSU isn’t a “pop up and have a great year every now and then program.” Taggart also deserves patience as he’s hit all the markers a first year head coach should hit in rebuild. Yes, FSU is rebuilding. This is not a full-on decade long overhaul like we’ve seen elsewhere, just a tune up.
To be clear, there’s a possiblity that Taggart isn’t the guy. I’m defending him now because he’s still well inside the grace period and hasn’t done anything awful to merit less. Even in the midst of the worst season in most fans lifetimes, he still has a solid recruiting class.
Let’s see what happens when he gets HIS War Daddies and Bad Asses into fold. Never lessen your expectations, but remember to have perspective on what the long-term goals of the program are: rings. One season can be sacrificed if it nets you a rise back to relevance.
Imagine if Clemson folded to fan pressure during Dabo’s first few seasons.
Article Originally Appeared on Gridiron Now: http://gridironnow.com/making-the-case-that-fsu-can-return-to-prominence-in-2019
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The quarterback situation has created a big a divide in the Seminole Nation. Since spring, FSU fans formed three camps: Team Frenchie (Deondre Francois), Team (James) Blackman and the (Bailey) HockmanHive.
Throughout the summer and leading up to the end of fall camp the media speculated about who would win the starting job; fans entrenched themselves around their favorite to lead FSU back to prominence.
Ultimately, fans trusted Willie Taggart’s process for picking a starter which eventually landed upon Francois. All reports were that he was back to his old self and maybe even improved after suffering a season-ending knee injury in the 2017 season-opener.
Fast forward to now and nothing is settled within the fan base when it comes to the team’s quarterback situation, or Taggart for that matter. The quarterback question is even more confusing and divisive than it was at the beginning of the season.
Much of this has to do with Taggart’s “Lethal Simplicity” offense not showing up in terms of stats, wins or the eye test. FSU has struggled offensively against average teams and imploded against superior teams.
The offense has looked slow, confused, poorly coached and generally inept for the vast majority of the season. Many factors have led to this including numerous injuries to the offensive line. Add to that neither Francois or Blackman being able to run this offense the way it is designed at the QB position.
Even more strange are rumors now circulating about the factors which truly influenced Francois being named starter and why he’s held on to the position despite his poor play.
If true, the rumors are further evidence of how selfish the culture has really become at FSU. Many observers now believe that the off-season’s “open” competition was never really open at all. A sense has developed that the “competition” was largely a show, a façade created to appease the quarterback room. If you believe the rumors, concessions were made to Francois providing depth at the position in order to avoid a repeat of the 2017 season where there was only one option at QB after Francois’ injury.
The speculation now is that both Francois and Hockman were transferring if James Blackman won the job. If Francois won the job, which he did, FSU only had to face one transfer – Hockman, who did leave – not two, which would have gutted the depth chart at the most important position on the field.
I’m beginning to believe this was the case and can see the logic in it from the coaching staff’s perspective.
Based on what we’d seen from Francois in the past, it was reasonable to believe that he would thrive in the team’s new offense. No one could foresee his significant regression. The safety net of having a proven backup should Francois suffer another injury makes a lot of sense too.
With the offense continuing to fail behind Francois, Blackman has been receiving an increasing amount of love from fans. They’re fed up with what “Lethal Simplicity” looks like when Francois is at the helm and want to see what Blackman can do.
Complicating the issue is a new NCAA rule that says players can appear in four games throughout the season while still having the ability to redshirt. Blackman played one snap against Miami, finished the Clemson game, played a little in the Wake Forest game and started the N.C. State game. His performance in the last two led many to believe he would become the permanent starter.
Not the case.
FSU went back to Francois against Notre Dame and according to Taggart, unless something inexplicable happens, he will finish the season as starter. This has encouraged many people to believe that Blackman will end up redshirting this season.
Rumors have it that this scenario is being pushed by the coaching staff for Blackman, which is probably not the worst thing for his career, except that it isn’t what’s best for FSU now and from all indications, Blackman is a team-first guy.
Rumors are just that, rumors, but with the current climate of the program, every decision being made warrants questions. What have we seen from this team or coaching staff that would make folks consider this, or any decision, from Taggart the right one?
Continued blowout losses. No semblance of an effective offense. Players being publicly accused of quitting by their head coach. A deteriorating defense. Abominable special teams … all of this is creating a growing instability that is corrosive for the health of the program.
There are two things other programs don’t necessarily care about which FSU fans believe are a big part of their school’s tradition: 41 consecutive seasons without a losing record and 36 consecutive bowl appearances. Neither look attainable currently, but changing players at certain position groups, mostly QB, would give the fan base a glimmer of hope.
If there’s even a shred of truth to the rumors about how the quarterback situation is being handled, it begs the question of “who’s really in charge of the program?” It’s the coaches’ job to dictate who plays and put the needs of the current team over anything else.
If it’s true that Blackman has either requested to redshirt this season or Taggart is entertaining this on his own, or Francois threatened to transfer if he didn’t start, then a few things need to happen. One, FSU should entertain all graduate transfer opportunities at the position. Two, Class of 2019 quarterback commit Sam Howell should be given every opportunity to start as a true freshman. Three, another Class of 2019 QB should be recruited.
If Blackman can’t challenge Francois now, then he’s not as good as anyone thinks and the future of the position might not be on this roster. If there’s a push to redshirt Blackman because this is already a “lost” season, then it’s apparent that Taggart and the coaching staff – and players – don’t fully understand or appreciate how important winning is to FSU fans.
Article Originally Appeared on Gridiron Now: http://gridironnow.com/whos-in-charge-at-fsu-rumors-about-qb-competition-make-that-unclear
Read more information on: Sports Den Jax Blog
