Nyqwan Murray's route-running and hands have frequently stood out in practices since he arrived at Florida State in the summer of 2015.

Murray has battled hand and knee injuries in his first year, but on Sunday during an open practice he turned in a consistently strong practice. It didn't seem to matter who was defending Murray, the sophomore frequently broke free in red-zone drills and caught at least four touchdown passes.

"Noonie jumped out at me today," FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said. "He has been starting to do that (in preseason camp). Murray is legit. Noonie has a chance to be a good player if he continues to play with consistency."

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Murray played in four games last season and had six catches for 65 yards in 2015, including a 32-yard reception vs. Chattanooga.

The 5-foot-11, 176-pound Murray saw extended practice time with the first-team offense on Sunday as FSU was without Travis Rudolph (hamstring) and Auden Tate (groin). Murray is often overlooked by FSU's taller sophomore receivers -- 6-5 Tate and 6-4 George Campbell -- he is in position for more playing time in 2016.

"Great camp," receivers coach Lawrence Dawsey said. "Watch out for that one. He runs great routes, got great hands, great body quickness, possibly competing for the punt return job, too. He's going to be in the mix a lot."

--Bob Ferrante

Here are the rest of our observations from Sunday's open practice.

Quarterbacks

—Deondre Francois is far and away FSU’s top option at quarterback, it’s not even close.

—The redshirt freshman continues to impress Fisher with his poise in the pocket and decision making. We witnessed Francois make several beautiful passes in the corner of the end zone to Murray, putting the ball only where his receiver could get it.

—FSU worked a lot of red-zone offense, which Fisher said was new to Francois. There were times when the speed of the game accelerated and Francois forced a throw into double coverage, resulting in an interception. However, Fisher liked that Francois rebounded from his mistakes, a theme that has been ongoing since the spring. Overall, Francois was solid and seems to be gaining Fisher’s confidence, as the coach said he continues to add more and more to Francois’ plate to see what he can handle.

—Outside of Francois, the pickings are slim. Malik Henry delivered a few nice passes but is just too inconsistent to rely on at this stage in his career.

—The real concern for FSU is what it as behind Francois. J.J. Cosentino was the No. 2 QB today and he just looked lost. There was a two-play sequence in which he didn’t know where to hand the ball off on run plays. Even more discouraging was that he was sullen afterwards and didn’t seem to respond well to adversity, which is something we saw in the Peach Bowl versus Houston.



Running backs

—Dalvin Cook has not lost his step despite adding some weight. The star junior didn’t practice too much, but there was one play in which he caught the ball in the flat, accelerated with linebacker Ro’Derrick Hoskins bearing down on him and flashed past the defense.

—We didn’t see much of Jacques Patrick on the side where the 1s/3s were practicing.

—Ryan Green had some nice pop on a few runs, he’s definitely continued the mentality from the spring of running with more physicality. He is also running north-south and with a determination to gain yards.

—Jimbo Fisher said that freshman RB Amir Rasul flashed at him a few times. He looked more physical than we expected for a guy who was known for his speed coming out of high school. He is noticeably thick in his thighs.

—Johnathan Vickers had a couple nice runs, displaying good vision as he found a few creases in traffic for decent gains.

—Freshman FB Gabe Nabers seems to relish blocking. The dude loves contact. He will easily fill the role vacated by Freddie Stevenson after this season.



Wide receivers/Tight ends

—Murray, as noted above, stole the show.

—Kermit Whitfield showed off some excellent fluidity, especially on one deep pattern where he quickly changed direction to locate the ball and come down with a catch. He made multiple difficult catches look routine.

—George Campbell worked with the first-team offense (Travis Rudolph and Auden Tate were out) and had his moments, good and bad. He is still not consistently attacking the ball in the air and needs to do a better job playing like a big receiver consistently.

—Ermon Lane was mostly used as a reserve and didn’t really impress. He was tentative on 50/50 balls and simply doesn’t seem confident in using his 6-foot-3 frame.

—Freshman WR Keith Gavin looks the part and made some nice catches, but he also dropped the ball a few time as well. You can see he’s oozing with potential, but is still very unpolished.

—Bobo Wilson did fine when we watched him closely, but didn’t do much to distinguish himself.

—Walk-on Jarrett Jackson, who had a TD in the spring game, flashed at us a few times. The WRs are likely too deep for him to see any meaningful action, but he’ll have a role on special teams this year.

—TE Ryan Izzo had a few nice catches and at least one drop. Certainly not a dominant performance for a guy with very high expectations.



Offensive line

—The biggest takeaway here is that FSU has decent depth everywhere, but the backup left tackle spot is shaky. Ethan Frith and Abdul Bello are truly works in progress, and FSU would likely have to take a right tackle or a different starter and slide them to left tackle if anything happened to Roderick Johnson.

—Cole Minshew and Rick Leonard continue to get work with the first-team offense. It’s hard to tell what that means for Minshew given that Wilson Bell has been out with a concussion the last couple days, but Leonard is seemingly separating himself from other right tackles.

—Derrick Kelly continued to work at right guard with mixed results.

—A continuing theme from last year was FSU’s inability to get push on short runs and we saw that a few times today.

Defensive line

—Josh Sweat is a freak. During bag drills, he knocks the bags to the ground with ease, more so than any other defensive end. For a guy who looks like a speed-rush end, he is incredibly physical. It shows up in his play too.

—Fisher went out of his way to mention Brian Burns as a guy who could be special. The freshmen defensive end has tons of talent and also got praise from Nate Andrews unprovoked earlier in the day. Burns didn’t practice (quad bruise) Sunday but appears to be poised to play this year.

—Freshman DE Janarius Robinson passes the eye test, but he doesn’t seem confident in himself and plays tentatively. He is a player who needs to soak in every word uttered by defensive ends Brad Lawing.

—Fred Jones is a technician. His hand placement and footwork continues to impress. He regularly rotates with the first-team.

Linebackers

—This was a position of concern coming into camp, but FSU seems set here. Matthew Thomas made a really athletic play to pick off Francois and Hoskins did well on a few blitzes.

—Thomas showed off a little after the interception, running around the sideline and spiking the ball. We wrote this before, but Thomas appears to be finally enjoying football for the first time since arriving on campus.

—Depth was supposed to be an issue as well, but freshmen like Dontavious Jackson and Emmett Rice each made some plays as well. DC Charles Kelly ran over to Rice after he was in perfect position on a pass to give him a high five and is evidently excited about the youngsters. We didn’t see much of Josh Brown, who was on the other side of the field, but the staff has previously expressed confidence in the freshman.

Defensive backs

—Even without Derwin James and Nate Andrews (left practice early with a leg injury) FSU has plenty of options in the secondary. FSU moved Marquez White to safety and he immediately showed he can stand out playing back there. The rangy athlete covered ground well and had a few pass deflections in the red zone. This allowed physical sophomore CBs Marcus Lewis and Tarvarus McFadden to get on the field, and they each did well throughout the day.

—Kelly told Lewis and McFadden that he wanted them to rotate at cornerback before White moved to safety, but said they were responsible for tagging each other in and out of the game.

—Sophomore A.J. Westbrook was a steady presence at starting safety after Andrews left. He plays the ball well in the air and has earned the trust of Kelly and Fisher. Look for him to see meaningful snaps this season.

—Freshman CB Levonta Taylor primarily worked at Star and held his own. He got burnt a few times but was never too far out of place. Taylor clearly belongs on this level, he just needs reps to get used to the speed of the game.

—Trey Marshall had a nice interception while playing safety. FSU likes that it can toggle him back and forth between safety and Star.

—Freshman CB Carlos Becker is a rarity given his length (6-2) and ability to move fluidly for such a big guy.



Specialists

—Fisher said he likes Logan Tyler and Jack Steed at punter, but Tyler is a cut above to us. His hang time was generally good, not great, but his distance was typically excellent.

—Tyler and Ricky Aguayo are decent options to replace Roberto Aguayo. Tyler has the stronger leg but Aguayo is more accurate. It wouldn’t shock us if FSU used Aguayo on shorter kicks and then turned to Tyler on field goals from 50-plus yards.

—Taylor, Murray, Whitfield and Wilson fielded punts for FSU.

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