Florida State's Depth Chart Revealed, Mike Norvell Press Conference Details

Florida State's first official depth chart let's break it [Music] down you are locked on seals your daily podcast on the Florida state seals part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day welcome into locked on seminal I am your host Brian Smith thank you for making this your first listen each and every day truly appreciate you stopping in to talk to olds football with me today's show is brought to you by FanDuel now through September 22nd all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a three-week free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV visit fanduel.com lockon to get started speaking of get started Florida State's first game will be this next Saturday we are less than a week away and Mike norell and the NES they kicked off the whole week of game preparation and all the information with a dep chart we're going to break that down and also talk about norvell's press conference but first let's talk a little bit about the offense then we'll move into the defense a few surprises few extra thoughts I want to add on it on how these depth charts work at the beginning of the year which by the way Florida state is not like every school not all schools will hand these out but we're going to talk about it a little bit start off with the quarterback position just get it out of the way yes no surprise here DJ is the quarterback for the Florida state seminal not surprising Brock GYN the sophomore rer freshman really he only played a handful of games so he will have four years of Eligibility is next and then Luke Kum Hawk The Freshman out of the Savannah area the next position though is the one that's really interesting in Ford State the way they list their Deb chart is intriguing to me you can take it however you want I'm not sure if this is a combination of trying to keep everybody happy which that's always a part I guess but or if they're just trying to really show that they're going to run a lot of two sets but they literally have two running back positions and it's kind a bigger back and a smaller back kind of deal so let's just start with the order that they have it the bigger backs I got Rodell he's a transfer from Bama He's listed at 214 pounds next is kaziah Holmes and then Cam Davis The Freshman I'm really really interested to see if they do a lot of the two back stuff because you could do a buck sweep or anything like that off some of these actions where running back powers and every now and then maybe DJ takes a bootleg like with a buck swe or something like that and scoots out the backside but he's going to be blocking or they're going to be blocking for some of the smaller guys if this works out but lawren stoil is the number one the Jaylen Lucas the Speedster really Twitchy guy that transferred from Indiana originally from the state of Louisiana and then Sam Singleton Jr the red shirt freshman from over in Fleming Island just outside of Jacksonville so are they really going to mix and match to the point where they're playing a lot of two backs I don't know but they literally do have that on the dep chart I find that interesting I'm not surprised about the order it pretty much reads like who's got the most experience it's about as conservative depth chart as you can get in that regard but not really surprising about the guys either based on what norbella said during the press conferences we'll talk a little more about that in a bit receiver this one surprised me a little bit bit I'm not surprised that Mal Benson's starting that's the easy one but I thought just my gut is that hem would end up being a starter instead He's listed at the same spot as Benson so I'm a little confused I don't know how that's going to work are they going to move I Keim around quite a bit that's a guy they absolutely need to get ready for the middle to end of this season as well as next year like next year he could be their number one but right now he's behind or at least it's one of those or deals on the dep J I'm sure you've seen these KRON is the second guy or hem Williams how does that work I don't know I'm not sure why coaches do it other than to try to keep players happy we'll see the other outside spot this is the good development that I'm very happy to see Jaylen Brown is listed as the starter and he's a red shirt freshman that can fly absolute track kid so you got two speedsters along with Benson with with with brown there that's a lot of speed so Florida State I knew they were going to throw deep this year having those two that pretty much solidifies it next is Darion Williamson and then or what Wayne McCoy The Freshman so again kind of a experience deal but Brown passes Darren Williamson so that's interesting not a lot of that on this depth chart but he's a red shirt freshman because he played just a teeny bit last year at LSU next the swap position everybody thought jakai was going to start that's where he's at red senior another red shirt senior's right behind him in Du span and then Elijah Moore this one's a little surprising me on how they did it um not surprised Mo's on the depth chart but they got him at slot now you can rank this any way you want but that's at least how I'm taking it they listed as receiver I assume they're playing shayre in the slot I can't imagine him playing anywhere else he's not the biggest guy in the world because he's 59 195 but Duce I mean that's a big guy he's 2 pounds and Elijah's 204 pounds totally different body types this kind of interesting are they going to move them around again that's the question I think jakai is a slot that's where he belongs you could move him outside in Bunch formations and do some other things but he's not at the biggest guy in the world so I doubt he does that much I'm curious to see how much they they rotate in do they give du span who's got a lot of talent a chance to rotate in a bunch or is it Jai going to be like 70% of the Reps that's one of the questions that I have tight end Kyle Morlock is the starter no shock the red shirt senior um they've got two guys with with the or tag again Brian Courtney Jackson West coming in next I knew they would both play which one ends up being the quote unquote more likely to be the backup or the h-back that's going to get complex I could do a whole show on that whichever guy blocks the best as we can practice and up to this point we'll probably play more especially if they're going to try try play Power football with Georgia Tech which I know I would uh for those of you who don't know 221 yards a game that's what Georgia Tech gave up last year you have to run the football atam before we go into the offensive tackles just note with the skill guys in general Forida State's in a good spot you got more speed and more size especially running back they're very deep based on having two running back positions most schools don't do that and they're also a school that has diversity with their skill guys I mean if you want to jaki Douglas could probably play a little running back for you certainly would be very difficult to tackle out of the backfield kind of like jayen Lucas I think they're in many ways very interchangeable and that is a theme for this group overall they have a lot of speed and that's going to be a very big part of it they use that and then you bring in somebody like Rodell to be a hammer maybe he's a lead blocker they have so much versatility with their skill it's a great sign for Florida State this year I know I'm still a little nervous about the receiver position and many of you probably are too but you got to play the games to find out so I'm just to that point let's see how they do Georgia Tech secondary isn't terrible but at the same time teams ran the ball on them so much I don't know how much their secondary is capable of carrying the load if a team really comes at them and just tries to throw the football not many teams did they didn't have to so Florida State maybe they challenge them a little more you never know so that's something to think about coming up next we're going to talk about the offensive line and then move in to the defense here unlocked on you've heard us talk a lot about FanDuel America's number one sports book well we're having something a little different for you now through the 22nd of September all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a three-week trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV then with the YouTube TV base plan you'll be able to watch every regular season Sunday afternoon out of Market game all you have to do is go to Google account and use a current form of payment and you can cancel at any time just visit fanduel.com lockon to download America's number one Sportsbook all right thank you very much for checking out lockon seminal once again I appreciate you stopping in to talk some Noles with us this is a really good thing for me I I enjoy doing this and especially with college football season getting going it's a lot of fun let's also talk a little bit about the college football preview that we got on locked on college football right here on the locked on network it's going to be a lot of action with preview coming up from all the different teams in the ACC the Big 10 the Big 12 the SEC myself and everybody else have picked in or been chosen to help out with this and it's a lot of fun Monday all the way through the end of the week you're gonna have that opportunity to check it out all the way into the early season so once again checked out W lockon college football it's a big part of what's going on here at the lockon network and you can see it on the YouTube channel on Amazon Fire TV it's a part of the lockon podcast Network your team every single day so back in with the depth chart discussion the offensive line had a couple of spots that I was a little surprised about but the main ones probably aren't going to surprise anybody and it's going from left tackle to right tackle this is where we're at Darius Washington is going to be the starter he's the red shirt senior he's the longtime developmental player in the program that's earned his spot listed at 64 310 Lucas Simmons the ret freshman the highly coveted kid that that young man's got a chance to be really good he is the backup as a red shirt freshman 68 308 pounds left guard transfer Richie leyard from Florida 62 331 he's a senior the backup is Bryson s 63 285lb red shirt junr Center Big Mo at Center once again 63 298 got Andre Auto and Jacob Rizzy as the backups moving over to Right Guard this is where it gets interesting on the right side I don't know how they're going to do this I don't know if they're going to rotate I don't know if there's a definitive order ticket for what it's worth it's with one of the or tags here Keandre Jones or TJ Ferguson the young man that transferred in from the University of Georgia Keandre played some he's a power player strong guy TJ same kind of deal they're both 330 plus pounds let's just see how that goes I'm not sure if there's a battle still Brewing or if they're really just going to rotate him again Florida State's got a deep depth jard at o line maybe it just works out that way they can play both it would be good to have that for the playoff situation later in the year finally at right tackle Jeremiah bers is listed as a starter but it's listed with an or again Robert Scott Jr both of them red shirt seniors let's see how that goes Jaylen early is listed as the tackle on that side he's a Richard sophomore so Florida state has a different kind of deal than most schools here it's a good problem to have they got more Talent than they do spots most schools are lucky to fill out the depth chart so keep that in mind I think Florida State's had a pretty good situation on the offensive line not only this year but they're probably a little deeper than I originally thought too let's move over to defense no no surprise here my personal ACC pick to win defensive player of the year it starts it off defensive end Patrick pyton 65 250 red shirt Jr I expect this to be his last year of college football before he heads to the draft he's a really good player Wella the transfer in from uh Oregon State he's the backup that's a great player to have on your Edge as a reserve he's a fifth year guy really good football player so he comes over with DJ OU Young D tackle a little surprise not a ton but a little surprise farmer is the starter but they got KJ Samson or and I'm not gonna pronounce this right Dural W I'm not sure how you pronounce it the kid that transferred in big kid they you know they got size finally a d tackle with KJ and the other young man's the smallest one at 280 pounds and he's a red shirt sophomore so KJ's a Richard freshman and then you got a Richard sophomore backing up Joshua farmer so they're pretty good spot Daryl Jackson Jr he's the guy I've been really excited to hear about see get any piece of information I can red shirt Jr he's from the area played high school ball with farmer 65 330 he's my pick to be the key guy on the defense this year if they're going to make a Deep Run get to the playoff and do something because you just can't teach his athleticism at that size behind him Daniel Lions who's somebody that norell mentioned in his press conference went out of his way that's a good sign he's 64 294 rard sophomore or Grady Kelly the kid that came over from Colorado State they've got more depth and experience there than I expected and by the way Kelly's up to 295 so good for him He's listed as a red shirt Jr the other defensive end is Marvin Jones Jr no shock transfer in from the University of Georgia he is a junior Byron Turner Jr at 64 251 redir JR out of New Orleans is the backup I expect Jones to take the majority of snaps in the big games but having a guy that's a red shirt Junior like Byron coming off the bench pretty nice W backer this one is probably a working progress as much as any spot on the roster C rway transfers in from Auburn experienced player big guy 6465 237 or Blake Nicholson the sophomore out of California 225 pound kid got some got some size but he can really run how much are they going to give the young guy a chance against Georgia Tech Nichol to be one of the guys I'm watching DeMarco Ward is the red shirt freshman that is next on the dep chart DJ Wy the Surefire starter 64 or excuse me 61240 redir senor Omar Graham and then Justin CER are the backups there there's number of those or tabs between those two I think they'll both be good players but let's see how far they get with them then we go on to the secondary Kevin noes Earl little they're listed with the ore how does that work out I don't know I thought little would be the definitive starter because he's such a good coverage guy or at least that's what I've heard but we need to see it so we'll find out against Georgia Tech because they're going to sling it they'll both have their chances to to play some defense jabril rolls is listed as a nickel as well kind of interesting because I thought he would play corner but they' moved him inside he's a red shirt freshman on the outside you got cornerback fentrell Cyprus no shock he is a red shirt senior he's a former transfer from University of Virginia Quin Darius Jones is his backup along with Kai Bates the true freshman like to see the freshman in there that's a good sign Shaheen Brown is your buck meaning he's your your strong safety he's the returning player that most people are really looking forward to 62208 I think he's gonna have a big year KJ Kirkland red shirt freshman he's a kid out of Jacksonville Reigns I'm really high on him too Devonte Brown a transfer from Miami via UCF gets a free safety start possibly depending on how you want to read this because there's another one of those or tags Conrad hussy the sophomore out of St Thomas aquinus in Fort Lauderdale he is listed as a co-starter with Devonte and at corner ezariah Thomas the starter the junor he's had a nice fille Florida Edwin Joseph a kid played down there at Shaman abadon red shirt freshman or Charles Wester thei The Freshman out of Venice Florida breaks down the rest of the dep chart now the defense in general just looking at it all the ores this doesn't surprise me because so many kids we knew were good in Spring ball we heard about it in Fall camp we heard about it and in between even in the summer we heard about it guys making plays like Elijah Moes on the the offensive depth chart he he earned some credit in the summer we knew that going into fall it's no different Conrad hussy the kid that's a sophomore out of St Thomas aquinus I knew he was going to be a player how they used I still think he'll play multiple spots be a good special teams guy not surprised that he's up there on the depth chart and that leads to the final point I want to talk about today and that's norvell's press conference that kind of confirms some of the things that we've been seeing with all the news coming out of the camp and then the depth chart itself we're going to talk about that next to wrap up the show here on lockon Simons passion drive and patience the formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to Peak Performance superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more whether you're into speed power or style eBay Motors has you covered with over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die you'll always fit find exactly what you're looking for and with eBay is guaranteed fit your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back because with eBay Motors you're burning rubber not cash all the parts you need at the prices you want it's easy to make your car the MVP and bring home huge wins keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com eligible items only exclusion Supply eBay guaranteed fit only available to us customers thank you once again for making locked on simal your first listed each and every day now go check out my friends Spencer MC Laughlin over at locked on college football from nil to all the things going on with conference way alignment for State included Spencer will get you ready for an exciting season on the gritter you can go find on walkon college football in the description so you don't need to search part of the lockon podcast Network your team every single day all right let's talk a little bit about noro's press conference to kind of wrap up the show today this is about solidifying what the depth chart is about what I think about it I'll add a few extra things as well but mostly with this it's just him taking questions and just he was pretty candid pretty excited today to be honest with you so I'm just gonna give a few time stamps and some of the things that I noticed I listened to over 10 minutes of it and to be honest I like I wish I had that man's energy all right first thing all focus on the Simons that's a quote he gave somebody asked him about how you're preparing for Georgia Tech Etc one of the very first comments somewh around the two-minute Mark the most important thing all focus on the seminal so while we respect our opponent which he should say norell is going out of his way to bring up we need to work on us if we take care of what we do we will be fine I like that approach if you don't execute your game plans in general you can't fine-tune them for the teams that you're playing in other words finish out the dep chart make sure everything's good to go all the little things the transition the communication from punt team to defense from punt return team to off all the little things that's what this is about I'm glad he said that because it's not given enough credit all the little stuff in football that will make you look bad and after a game only is talked about if it is bad if it goes good nobody talks about it Florida state is doing the right way with what norbel said next 240 mark the most explosive group that's something to to look at like he was talking about the times they run they've got these vests that give it out the speeds how fast they're running like 20 some mile an hour he said he's had some of the fastest times that he's had anywhere in the fastest Florida State he's really happy about it he was really shocked in a way like to look on his face like just how many like their strength and conditioning program is getting it done and they're recruiting guys that can run too that's a great sign they've got good strength numbers that's a good sign overall for the Florida state seminal something interesting and i' forgotten about this Alex zson because of the suspension with the recruiting violation last summer whatever it was or in the in the winter with the TJ Ferguson thing or whoever it was he's not going to be coaching norell went out of the way to say this game this he's not coaching this game they've been preparing for a while they're gonna have other guys step in and take it over he's not worried about it but I assume this will be a very non-important Factor because they prepared again norell does a great job of preparation and the staff it sucks that ainson can't coach but he's not going to be there on game day all right 445 Mark he talked a little bit about the defensive coordinator that came over to Georgia Tech from duke duke was pretty good defense last year very physical very consistent with the Run Gap fits Etc but I don't know if they're going to adjust that much based on the Personnel they have at George Tech this is a first game he again norell gave a lot of respect to him and he talked about the personnel and fits and stuff like that in the fronts he's like you know you don't know for sure and he's 100 perent right that would scare me because they have cart Munch The only thing you can do and he said this is look at the Duke film you're guessing that's always dangerous if they can come up with something that Georgia Tech is comfortable with to run to surprise you they might stall a drive or two in addition to the rest of the game what they might have done just by schematics it's part of a first game you got to be ready he also brought up uh first game surprises in general you know you just like personel or anything else so don't be surprised guys move around for Georgia not the player but where they're lined up Etc the the coaching question by the way for Tech is Tyler sanui he was at um Texas A&M I believe he was at Notre Dame at one point he's a grad assistant Etc he's been around some pretty good coaches Mike Elco was a good guy to learn under just for the numbers last year Duke they were 19th in Total Defense or not number or gave up 19 points per game that's 16th they gave up 41.9 yards 47th in rushing and passing 210.8 that's 41st so they were solid but the number of scoring is pretty good I think that's because they're red zone defense when the field got condensed again they didn't make mental errors they gave up very few big plays and busts down near their own end that's the difference between winning and losing so I do was pretty good team last year at the six minute Mark special teams this is something that's not discussed as much and again I brought this back up a few minutes ago all focus on the similars that's the same deal here special teams a very critical factor for us that's a quote from Norvell 100% you are not going to win unless you have good special teams as as a season but in an opening game especially if you want to blow a game have a punt blocked if you want to blow a game watch a kickoff go the other direction for 95 yards at a school something like that can change a football game in a heartbeat No Way Around It Now the good news Master mono and just the coverage units in general I don't have any qualms with what they did last year because it was top 10 units kind of impossible but I haven't heard anything different this year there's pretty high expectations so maybe this is the area Florida State actually has the biggest Edge having having a partner like that's great but even just getting one extra possession where Georgia Tech is backed up remember now the quarterback for Georgia Tech threw 16 Picks last year he definitely a guy that can throw to the wrong team if you back them up a few times it's not out of the question Forida State not only gets a pick they get a pick six don't discount that happening it's very possible finally here two more categories he talked a lot about the offensive line and the transformation from where they were when he got there to like where they are now the depth that's built over the last couple of seasons will said they've done a great job of getting guys to buy in and not transfer out I thought they were gonna have a bunch of guys leave after this last season or go to the NFL like almost all of them came back they're not gonna do that if they don't like ainson they don't like norell they don't like the program strength staff great job by all parties involved this is one of the deepest Florida State offensive lines ever in enjoy it because not every college football team has it Florida state has it this year they need to run over some people and I think they will finally the last thing that that I paid attention to a reporter asked norbel which guys made strides like from spraying to now and it was a diet tribe of long long proportions not really diet tribe but it was just such a long list you could tell he was going out of his way not to forget anybody because want to make any mad but even mention ezariah Thomas like the first guy and that's some who was almost like a co-starter at the end but was really good at corner and then he just went through all kinds of guys Conrad hussy talked about offens of guys all across the board that how he's just happy with the guys getting better that's something orbell talks about win the day and get a little better today let's have a great day very positive man I think this kind of buys into that as well and his players have also bought in he he mentioned too many guys from meeting remotely count I stopped but that's a good sign for the program overall Florida State players want to be there they want to be a n and they want to win as an old can't really argue with that so I'm pretty excited to see what the energy level is for Florida State against Georgia Tech because norell again was really really happy overall and that last part right there kind of signifies that thank you once again for making locked on SARS your first listen each and every day please hit that notification Bell and that like button subscribe to this podcast rate and review truly appreciate you coming in to talk to no with me it's a lot of fun and before I get out of here make sure that you also make locked on college football podcast your next listen it's a great one check out my guy Spencer mfin he does a great job over there everybody have a good one I will see you all this week talking nolles talking depth charts talking breakdowns player matchups Georgia Tech Florida State coming up this next Saturday