Welcome back my friends to (over)reaction season.
It has been some time since I have been able to write and tell you how great things are going to be. While there has been some coverage for the Florida State football beat, the B-roll has been few and far between, and that has made it hard to give clips to (over)react to.
Guess what? Sunday we got over four minutes of B-roll from the first scrimmage and I want to take a look and give some thoughts.
An offense made for playmakers
What is Jordan Travis strength? Not his arm but his legs. So why not show some option looks or sprint out looks and let him make reads? In the following clip you see Travis showing sprint action, reading the end, and then flipping a shovel pass to Lawrance Toafili. Norvell has classified his offense as one built for playmakers and this is what he means. Norvell is going to find a way to be successful on offense by evaluating the players who need the ball and then getting it to them.
The next clip is McKenzie Milton working the middle of the field and delivering the ball to Camm McDonald. This was an area of weakness in years past but a strength of Milton’s. It’s interesting to see how different things will be called for the two QB’s. It continues to go back to evaluating a players strengths and then attacking them.
A Hidden Gem
Raise your hand if you thought this was going to be about Treshaun Ward. Now take that raised hand and pat yourself on the back with it. Ward had three touchdowns on Saturday and was dynamic in the run game. Ward has been a walk-on at FSU for two years and flashed in the bowl game against Arizona State in 2019 and last year against Duke. Want an (over)reaction? He is going to be on scholarship this year and will be in the top half of the rotation at running back. This is another playmaker for the offense that can be used in a variety of ways but he possesses the toughness to run inside and burst to get outside.
A New Day on the Edge
We all know the struggles that the defense had last year on the edges. I have no idea how the collective will do but I know that Jermaine Johnson is going to be a problem for teams. We didn’t get many clips of him but you can see the difference he makes already. Johnson can anchor versus the run and get after the QB. If this defense is going to make a move up the ranks it starts and stops with Johnson.
Tell me what your (over)reactions are in the comment section