Florida State Football Preview 2024: Quarterback

Ingram Smith B Elliot back again for another episode the ncast all right man it's that time of year again it's time for the positional preview series we've done this for I don't know 13 years now or however long it's been uh always some of the podcasts I look forward to the most uh both in that it's great to be able to talk about what this uh you know what these groups are going to look like but also the fact that the season is but only so far away so we're gonna start it off with quarterbacks tonight look forward to that uh Bud talented group there a lot of uh really young intriguing prospects that Florida State's been able to add um and then you've got DJ UA angay um who's a player that just from my perspective has done nothing that impressed me since he's been to Tallahassee now how much does that matter I don't know but the kid's certainly reshaped his body pretty quickly from where he was uh when he came on his visit uh I can just tell you from having spoken to his teammates people think really highly of him about how he goes about his business um and is a impressive young man so uh excited to talk about the quarterbacks tonight and getting ideas to what this group might look like in 2024 yeah man me too I ESPN had an article a couple months ago and I read it and was like I just don't buy this and it was talking about like the the quality of quarterback rooms and like the future of quarterback rooms man I I like epu's quarterback room a hell a lot more than this article does shoot like like you get DJ who I think is floor is decent and ceiling is clearly more than that a guy that I think is is a proven commodity all of the indications that we have had from Florida State the people I talk to the people you talk to what we're able to see at practice is that he is what they thought he would be and maybe a little bit better like Mike norell has just straight come out and said that you know it he's got how old is he like 24 or an older 23 I mean he's he's not young right yeah believe he's 23 years old I mean he was recruiting class of of 2020 so his first year in college was was the uh right was the was the co year at Clemson I mean that's this was fifth year college football it's an adult in the room you know like you look at him he does f now granted like he's always been massive okay like he was a legitimate baseball pitcher too in in high school I remember I interviewed him at the uh back when we still had Nike camps like not not in the Under Armour you know this is 2019 and uh he actually couldn't work out at that thing because he had he had messed up his wrist uh pitching and I was like this guy is like grown ass man status to be sure uh I I'm very happy to see that he reshaped his body Ian he's got to be if I gave you an over under of two 39 and a half where you going it's to his current weight yeah yeah he's above that he's above that I think probably he's not 260 he's not 260 he's not 270 either uh and he's uh I think he's in the high 240s right now maybe low 250s something like that um but he's you know he a big guy massive frame you see his dad you see you know yeah these These are big individuals um but he's uh he just you know he's he's fit in real real well in a room uh that I think uh is filled with a lot of kids with a lot of Bright Futures uh and he's worked well didn't try to you know come in and uh and act like you know everything was his and this is just a a you know foregone conclusion that he was going to run the room um and has fit in well from a personality perspective of that of what I can tell you know I'm not uh not in meetings blah blah blah um but he's you know most importantly what what do your teammates care about the most at the end of the day yeah how hard are you working or are you doing all the things to you know put everybody else around you in as good a place as possible uh and he's certainly done that yeah and his skill set fits you know no hardly by accident I believe incredibly well with the pieces that they brought in and what I think they're going to look like offensively this year I think DJ's a great fit for what they want to do I think uh you know Malik vinon is is the perfect wide receiver to go out and get to try to and and Jaylen Brown to a lesser extent who's probably looked better than I thought he was going to but we'll talk about that during the wide receiver preview he's further long than I thought he was going to be I'll put it that way um I think DJ is on the prefaces of of having as good of a year as he's had in college uh and I think his skill set is perfect with what Mike's trying to do and I do think there's going to be a couple games where you look down and you're like yeah DJ flew you know through for 400 yards and average 20 or something because there's going to be some some very big shot plays in this offense with what he can do and how far he can put the field the ball down the field and some of the pieces that are in that wide receiver room that will let him do that completely uh so we're gonna kind of go with like a four downs approach for the preview Series this year I I think it kind of Keeps Us on schedule which is something we need to make sure we do as an offense as well first down brought to you by the legendary team over 550 loans now to ncast listeners Chad do such a great job with that 844 FSU loan 844 FSU loan could 550 ncast listeners be wrong I I guess sure but probably not right wisdom of the crowds the law of large numbers says Chad does a great job for 844 FSU loan is the number to call so Chad asks what does success look like for DJ in 2024 so to set the Baseline for this before you answer last year at Oregon State DJ uh 336 dropbacks 180 of 315 uh so not a high completion percentage that's in the 50s uh definitely a lot different than Jordan you know Jord was 207 324 uh 2638 yardage 21-7 touchdown to interception that's a little different I mean Jordan was 20 and two uh so not a lot of picks however we'll note zero on the fumbles zero fumbles lost and zero fumble so dju big guy uh granted like the knocking us on wood of Knox but in a place that has some nasty weather man like if you watch some of these Oregon State Games MH corv winds yeah very windy last year by the way as a gambler I can tell you that they had massive construction going on at Oregon State last year so you had that whole part of the stadium that was missing the winds would whip through there and at least two of their games had insane rain most notably the game against Washington where his numbers were terrible but I'm gonna kind of give him an excuse on that one because you know who else's numbers were terrible Michael penx Michael P who uh you know had a pretty pretty nice season there um on the ground uh he had 57 rushes for 289 he took only 14 sacks which is um you know pretty decent actually uh considering how long they would hold the ball at times and he did score uh six rushing touchdowns so certainly a guy that when they got in the red zone They would use I also point out that Oregon state had this like super athletic tight end that they would take and use as like a battering ram Wildcat thing so I do think that DJ would have scored more rushing touchdowns for Oregon state had they not had this like freakish guy who was also like an all World skier in high school uh that they would just kind of put in and use uh at times but are those amazing numbers not really I will say 49% success rate on dropbacks is sorry man I got this anti-glare thing after 10 pm on my computer screen so some of these are like give me a second here let me kill this uh anti uh blue light there we go Jordan's Su success rate last year on drop x 50% DJ 49 that's pretty interesting right and that includes scrambles and stuff so I mean yeah I know Jordan had a better year overall certainly a lot more volume than DJ and I'm not going to tell you that DJ's a better quarterback than Jordan I I don't think that's the case but I can see it you know yards per drop back Jordan seven point .8 DJ 7.8 there are some similarities here now I think DJ had a better Supporting Cast at Oregon State by a small margin than what he has in Tallahassee on offense but not on defense okay so I'm I'm gon just GNA wind you up for all that uh Sachs per pressure by the way Jordan 15% DJ eight so yeah I mean he's hard to it's hard to bring down um and he's a guy that you know even as a a linebacker's hanging on to him can still get rid of the ball if if nothing else just to throw it into the ground um yeah what do success look like for DJ from my perspective uh cut out some of the glowing air or the the rather obvious errors um when it comes to throwing on the run you know don't don't make some of those things that are just you know crushing um to your team and and to their chances to win um I think it's uh you know it's it's that and just continuing to see how he fits in I will say like uh look it's been three practices two of which have been in shells okay K Morlock looks like a different player to me than he did last year uh I will be very interested to see uh how they utilize him how DJ uh you know gets comfortable with him and uh the extent that you know he's imagined is going to be featured in the offense pretty early um and then you know to which DJ can get more comfortable with other pieces uh in the in the roster and and some of the pieces that we talked about um and then also to an extent and I'm not trying to make this a wide receiver preview I feel like to some degree a lot of this offensive preview will be based off like at what rate does hem Williams Come online as well and what you know how much does that uh change the offense for for DJ for Brock for anybody for for the running backs I mean hakee has a chance to make this offense uh much more complete than it would be otherwise um and all the more harder to defend um opening up opportunities from from everybody whether it be running backs tight ends Etc so um yeah I I think uh DJ is on the prefaces of of having a really solid season and um I do think that he's been everything that they thought he was going to and and maybe a little bit more and I you know how much can you coach out uh problems or or deficiencies that people have had in their game historically uh probably this needs to be evaluated on a case-by Case basis right I do think that they've improved on at least in practice and stuff that some of the things that he sees on the run and decisions that he makes on the run and uh it has not been uncommon to see DJ just put a ball 30 yards uh into you know out of play if it wasn't there while he's been while he's been escaping the pocket so hopefully you can see some real progress there I I agree with you all I'm glad you said the decisions on the run because you know I I've heard some of the chatter as of you I'm sure from sources about how we can improve his performance on the run like is that is that a mechanics thing is it a being in better shape type thing is it um you know a coaching thing but the fact that you said decisions on the run I I think is is pretty important you know you got a guy named Master Mano who is a damn good punter you have in my opinion one of the very best cornerback combos in the country like I I think you will have two NFL draft picks at corner uh coming up in the next draft if they perform as they did in the spring and uh you know all throughout summer seven on seven and stuff based on on things that we have heard I also in some ways like some of the similarity scores in terms of body types from what you had last year at Oregon state in the receiving Corp right so you know Jack failing 64 241 now morlocks taller than that but he's not a lot heavier than that he's I mean he's north of 240 but he's not 270 right now here's something interesting for you receiver Anthony gold who got drafted you know real real Speedy guy good punt runer type dude 58 172 on the other side Silas Balin 5'8 157 Oregon state was Tiny at receiver last year now this is pretty important because last year Florida state was the opposite of that they were just the absolute redwoods outside this year they are much smaller you know now you could tell me kentron and Darion and those and those guys are are certainly bigger and and that that helps but you know Benson is not super tall I he's not tiny but he's he's not he's not a contested catch guy based on what we've seen so far throughout his career but he is really fast you mentioned Brown now hem totally agree if you're Mike norell and you're Alex Atkins to interrupt you real quickly though I'm I'm glad that he has history of thrown to people of that size because Jaylen and jakai are probably you know two of your more dangerous pieces that you have on the offense uh and that's PE those are pieces that you're going to have to incorporate immediately totally so I do not anticipate that his completion percentage is going to go like wild through the roof I I would like to see it improve uh I mean Jordan th were 64% like that that's unlikely to happen I think DJ just kind of is who he is within certain constraints but the fact that he is used to throwing to small targets yeah I like I was thinking about this man yeah like like now the backs at Oregon State they were thick man I mean Martinez 232 finwick who finck got drafted right the the other back like or at least he made a roster I a pretty good kid out of uh like um Sarasota area U he was 225 so like they had power backs power scheme very small guys on the outside they ran a lot of jet motion a lot of orbit motion finding ways to try to get the ball to those guys in space I mean if you're Mike norell that's kind of the challenge and in some ways I think based on what you thought you would have had this year at the time that they took DJ now you thought you were G to have Dustin Hill but Dustin Hill is not 6'4 right he's another kind of like very fat now granted I mean he's you know he hurt his knees so um I very much doubt you're gonna have him you know as a major part of the offense this year although glad to see him like doing the rehab there on the field like that's that's a very encouraging sign that he's in good spirits there doing that but if you're in orille you got to think man not a lot of big bodies in the transfer portal that anybody liked we're probably going to be a little smaller at receiver this year a lot of speed lot of speed R's like the fastest team we've had that that has to enter into his thinking I I'd like to see DJ you know 58 59% maybe if he Clips 60 that would be incredible okay with the throwaways seven picks is not ideal uh two of those were in that that insane game uh against against Washington in the I don't know I'm not really sure any quarterback would operate well in those those circumstan you guys can watch that game if you want to it was just I mean Washington scored 22 points right and one of their big plays was on that crazy fourth down end round they had the the balls to call so kudos to them for doing so uh and then the game against Oregon you know it was 54% threw a pick there I think the whole Oregon State team kind of pseudo quit when they real when the report started to leak out their coach was leaving for Michigan State you know right before the you the big you know Civil War game that they play uh but a guy that you can use to run the ball in the Red Zone um certainly I don't think he's going to break off long touchdowns for you but he's certainly quicker than fast at times I guess but he's a guy I think you could do some some design quarterback runs with and I mean if you're that old I know there's the whole thing man about like the second year transfer quarterback deal like like the second year in the system is when a lot of these guys explode but I wonder how much of that is familiar with the offense and how much of that is just you have a an adult playing college football you know what I mean Nicks old as hell pinx old as hell like old guys DJ's old and I wonder how much that helps so I I'd like to see slightly improved completion percentage maintain a very low fumble rate if you can keep that that sack of wance rate anywhere close to what that was I mean that that would be uh that would be exceptional uh let's go second down here this is from well actually Matt Lewis did not send this end but this second down is sponsored by congruity uh and you're hit me with the congruity read no uh kgr hr.com fantastic people we've worked with them for believe four or five years now uh had more than 25 seminal owned businesses uh reach out to Matt and explore uh working with him as well and nothing but positive feedback from that uh whether it be one of my better friends and Robin Allon or whoever else quick to recommend mat Lewis and his team and thank them for what they've done as far as making the null cast possible um all right so this question is do we think FSU will work in Brock Glenn during games like Kansas state did with Avery Johnson like Oregon state did with Charles or like Oklahoma did with Jackson Arnold um I don't know that there would be a plan for you know like I don't think it's going to be planned that Brock's going to take the first set of downs in the second quarter or something like that you know like same time depends uh again it's only three practices in Brock Glenn has looked incredible and on again three practices we'll see you haven't had a scrimmage you hav't put on full pads um but Brock looks like a different player than he did last year uh so to an extent you know some of that will be dictated I don't like look I don't I'm not super familiar with what Mike did at Memphis uh but I don't know that Mike has done that historically as far as kind of having situational starters or or or not a situation in which there's someone outside of his starter I'll put it that way um and it's not you know Brock has a bright future and Brock has look great but Brock's not somebody that runs a 4-32 or something you know he's it's not some totally different Dynamic that you're bringing into your offense uh so um I think Brock's going to get chances I think Brock uh you know you'll see him uh but I I would you know does he take the third set of downs against Georgia Tech or something like that n that would surprise me I'm glad you brought that up too because the examples that we gave there Avery Johnson might be the most athletic player on Kansas State's entire team not just quarterback room but team Charles I think is the most talented passer in the big 10 like and also got some serious Wheels like the the guy that DJ I I don't want people to take it as a knock that he was sharing reps with with Charles at times like Charles I think has potential to be like you know first round pick type good if he hits there's no doubt about that the other aspect here so you're right it's not really a change up of styles you're not getting something different there um I looked at Mike in 2017 2018 and 2019 at Memphis the second leading pass in 17 had 10 attempts uh the second leading Pastor in 18 had 14 attempts and the second leading Pastor in 19 had 15 attempts so almost no attempts but at the same time I do think two things are true one Mike does like to get his starters a lot of reps in games and I wonder if the Jordan injury is going to make him a little change on that not in blowouts but in games that are comfortable you know do you get the kid in maybe you get your starters out a little bit earlier if you don't need style points although heck maybe you need some style points I I don't know it kind of depends on what the rest of the conference and the college ball playoff uh race and Landscape look like but the other thing here what are the odds that Mike had a quarterback at Memphis behind Brady white that he really like wanted to get in the game that's a great Point that's a great that's a totally different data point and that is where there's a lot of things different than being at Memphis for Florida State or whatever but that is true you know these these pieces that are number two on your roster so much more talented than than that of what you had at your past stop that it's it's certainly worth pointing that out when we look at it uh no Brock has looked really good Brock has looked like a guy that has uh you know grown an awful lot and has put in a ton of work uh he is a you know I don't know this is a silly term sometimes but he is a a leader in that in that group um I've been impressed by what I've seen from Brock so far and and really excited to see what it looks like in um you know once you get to to putting on full pads the only knock that I've seen of Brock so far is it in in seven on seven and stuff there's times where he tucks the ball and run which is not you know really applicable to the AJ duy move yeah um so but also he's working with a lot of second and third team wide receivers that based off Mike's reaction post playay I'm not sure did exactly what was asked of him either so uh I will add that caveat in there um but still learning the offense but uh look it was a first day of practice so all the disclaimers you want to put on that but I think we were like 30 minutes into practice before a ball that Brock Glenn through wasn't exactly where it it was supposed to be it was really one of the better practices on air that I've seen anybody have in a while so uh you got to really like what you've seen from Brock and it'll be interesting to see how involved he gets in the offense this year and I think to your point I'm glad you brought this up it's not that DJ is playing poorly to where like like it's not Brock's here and DJ's here and DJ's coming to Brock it's like Brock is coming to DJ a little bit right like that if you're judging Brock off what you saw last year I think that's a mistake this is a guy who was hurt in Fall Camp right didn't really get recovered for a while and then when you saw Louisville like he definitely gets hurt against Louisville he got hurt in the either Southern Miss or he got hurt in one of the early games yeah and had to come back from injury to even you know be there for the uh for the championship game so yeah um yeah I I think maybe it was Duke I can't remember uh I know that they think they have something with Brock Glenn like is that gonna be a superstar I I don't know but they the way they coach him is definitely like you coach guys that you believe in hard you know what I mean I know they want to coach everybody hard but like you get that level of attention um all right third down of course by our friends not Matt Lewis Matt Thompson Madison social Township all the institutions that they are uh I've recently talked about social kitchen which is a fantastic option up there on the north side of town uh for prepared meals and um they've also got some great little grab and go sandwiches steak Sammy Reuben all the classics uh but also Snake River Farms if you are looking for incredibly high quality meat uh but Charlie Park is uh a spot that we always want to remind you of right over there in the Cascade Park District Charlie Park Rooftop Bar uh.com is the website certainly would recommend uh reservations on you know busy weekends or game weekends or whatever else Charlie Park fantastic place and thank Matt and his team for more than a uh I believe it's a decade now's support of the ncast No Doubt man I I absolutely love having them as our sponsor so how do we think the offense needs to look differently to maximize its efficiency with DJ well um yeah not giving away State Secrets no we're not giving away State secrets and we're going to do the running back preview here shortly but I mean you're going to lean heavily on your running backs and here's the good news I think you got six of them that you can lean on and I'm not being hyperbolic either I don't you got a problem at running back you got so many talented kids and that's a great problem to have but I can't wait to see what it looks like I mean you know Toof Philly uh the Alabama kid looks looks incredibly good yeah Roy Dell looks fantastic you I mean you hit on cam and Dany I can go ahead and tell you that right away uh Dany looks very very special now I don't know his future may be uh at wide receiver some as well long story short back to the quarterbacks you're gonna lean on this running back room and you've got a lot of legs to do so you know you went out you got uh a you know Guard from Alabama and a guard from Florida both who've looked uh Richie Leonard's looked really really good at times um and I think is going to be a fantastic addition uh to this offense and first team left tackle all ACC uh Darius Washington I think you're going to run the ball heavily and uh you're GNA take deep shots and I think that's a great you know great blend for What DJ is and and how he can help you and work the tight ends and I also and look I'm not giving away any secrets because they haven't worn pads but you know it wouldn't surprise me to see DJ run the ball um fairly you know I don't want to say fairly frequently but you'll get him involved in reads you'll get him involved in quarterback draws and my opinion you're just going to have to respect the fact that you know as a Defender the guy you're trying to bring down is 65 25050 and is pretty damn good athlete uh again like you said much much more quick than fast uh but a guy who can pull the ball down and pick up eight yards pretty easily and you know look anybody that gets hit by a D1 Defender doesn't mean they're not going to feel it but DJ can absorb some blows and get right back up and get back in the Huddle and lead your offense for the next play so um I'm fascinated to see how they use him as a runner um and how selective they are and in that his his processing has never been like a super strength of his game so I think if you're the staff you have to you have to acknowledge that and kind of work around that you know it's more kind of predefined understanding where to go with the ball uh we do not know how Florida state will utilize or or well we know they will utilize it obviously but to what effect it will have with the inh helmet communication uh but there is some chance that that really helps DJ just in terms of reminding him hey you do have what is probably a very good defense behind you and an All-American candidate at punter so if this ball if this isn't open take off and Chuck it in the stands we we live to fight another down uh I will remind the audience that in uh 2018 and 2019 Memphis running backs combined to catch about 150 balls so it's about 75 a year last year fsu's backs caught 50 so uh you know that's that's a 75 vers 50 is not nothing I I think that you have a lot of guys who are running backs on this team as you mentioned you know Dany is a guy who can be a game breaker Jaylen Lucas could be a game breaker for you to Philly is really a nice catcher of the football um from the running back position I I think you probably need to operate at a more heavy Personnel more more two back stuff you know some you know some pistol as you mentioned in the open Morlock looking looking better is huge and uh that's not unreasonable to think warlock can be better given that he was playing for a not FCS but freaking D2 School the year before um you know more predefined plays probably a lot of lot of screen game stuff if you don't have a lot of receivers that get themselves open but they do have the ability to do things once the ball's in their hands then you think you need to consult back on what you have done and then at places where DJ has had some success um you know Clemson ran a boatload of orbit when uh orbit motion just like Oregon state did when uh when when DJ was was having some success there at Clemson so finding ways to get the get the ball in space probably more passes behind the line of scrimmage than if it shoot through last year too uh now that seems antithetical to the idea of go deep but I think it probably does mean like fewer hey go five wide do the you do the Jordan thing where just like pick it and let him read it out and just get the ball out quick type thing um you know deep shots play action to where if you do throw interceptions they're deep inter ceptions you know interception depth matters a lot right if you throw if you throw a pick at the line of scrimmage much more likely to turn to a pick six and if you throw a pick 40 or 50 yards downfield um you know that is if we have an arm punt or three this year probably won't kill me right um so I think more heavy Personnel that forces defenses to match your heavy personnel with their heavy Personnel you know like how many teams have good coverage linebackers who can cover if if you're in a two back set with to Philly like are you going to play at the Sho and nickel if they line up with two receivers and two backs and a tight end I think you have to force defenses to make choices or to make Personnel choices and you might want to throw the ball against heavy looks out of your heavy looks and that that may be something that they're able to do uh to do well with DJ uh fourth down is this the end of Florida State's quarterback transfer uh cons consecutive cycle MH I could probably ask that question better but I'm we're doing a bunch of these apologies um yeah so if you think about it I mean technically until Tate or Brock took a snap every snap by a quarterback under Mike Norvell been a transfer is that right Jordan and and the kid from UCF his name I blank on right now um mckeny yeah um yeah man I mean look this may be a wildly Talent you know who know you can predict whatever the hell you want to predict as to what the portal is going to look like in January who knows maybe it's a wildly talented class and there's all sorts of great quarterbacks to choose from I think DJ may be the last of the transfer quarterbacks for Mike Norville for extended period of time like Luke croman Haw looks like a freshman still learning the offense uh has some plays where they you know looks like a future first round pi and looks like a plays where he's going through you know still a freshman going through practice uh but Luke is a incredible Pats of which to build around for the future you have two really talented quarterbacks committed in both senior and and junior in high school currently um I think as and and then you got a really talented walk- on uh to to further you know bolster that group um I would be surprised to see Florida State go out in the transfer portal for for a starter you know now maybe they go out and get somebody else just as a if they aren't sure that you know Luke's not there at the end of the year or they haven't been able to get him enough reps that they need a number two or something like that but I at this point I think you're GNA start going High School uh as to how the route the kids have joined your program developed them and uh DJ may be the last of the transfer Port portal quarterbacks or Mike norell at least for their foreseeable future I I think so too man I mean what what are the odds that that Brock or Luke or or or Jackson don't don't hit I mean not zero but I don't think they're high right it least people I talk to seem pretty pretty high on this room so I I am as well just based on you know what I hear what I've seen what I saw them as as recruits as well so yeah I think as long as your quarterback coach is there do take a job and and you see some kind of Exodus tied to that I would expect this to probably be the the the last of the starting uh transfer editions and quarterback man it's been fun I I I honestly I feel better about if asu's quarterback position after talking this out with you that I did before before we hit record like this is this is good it's G to be fun man I can't wait can't wait till pads come on and scrimmages come and you get a little bit better idea as to what this looks like but so far I think uh Florida State coaches and uh supporters have to be have to like where they are at the quarterback room have to like the uh progress that they've seen from this position so uh it's just great to get back into these position previews I remember the first time we ever did them exciting as hell still find them to be really fun to do great barometer as to where we are in the college football calendar and uh this has been the first one and we'll be back with uh a couple different offensive previews here and then slide over to defense so mingram that's Bud this has been the null cast also check us out August 10th tampao Club kickoff was a blast last year and uh we will be there again this year so come see us event or details are in the show notes see yall