The top position groups Florida State will face during the 2018 season

Wayne McGahee III | Tallahassee Democrat

Florida State will be starting fall camp in August and the 2018 football season is right around the corner.

The Seminoles are looking to bounce back from a 7-6 season in 2017 with a whole new coaching staff under Willie Taggart.

To do so, FSU will have to navigate one of the toughest schedules in college football that features 10 teams that had winning records in 2018.

The Seminoles get Clemson, Virginia Tech, and Florida at home, but have to go on the road to play Miami, Notre Dame, North Carolina State, and Louisville.

With football season looming, here's a look at the top position groups FSU will face in 2018.

Quarterback: N.C. State

It was a tough decision between N.C. State and Clemson for this one.

The Wolfpack return the best QB in the ACC in Ryan Finley, but Clemson’s quarterback room is the best in the conference and maybe college football.

But only one quarterback can be on the field, and while Trevor Lawrence may be the most talented quarterback in the ACC, he’s only a true freshman.

So Finley gets the nod.

He completed 65.1 percent of his passes for 3,518 yards and 17 touchdowns with six interceptions during his junior year.

N.C. State returns three receivers – out of four – with more than 500 yards receiving in 2017, including junior Kelvin Harmon, who had 69 receptions for 1,017 yards and four touchdowns.

Also considered: Clemson

Running Back: Clemson

A.J. Dillon may be the best running back in the ACC not on FSU’s roster, but Clemson has a trio of running backs that standout and that’s why the Tigers get the nod over Boston College.

Etienne heads into his sophomore season as a big play machine after averaging 7.16 yards per carry as a freshman. He had 16 carries of more than 10 yards and eight carries of more than 20 yards to go along with his 13 touchdowns.

The Tigers also have junior Tavien Feaster -- who averaged 6.25 ypc as a sophomore in 2017 with seven touchdowns – and junior Adam Choice – who averaged 4.87 ypc as a sophomore with six touchdowns.

The trio also combined for 25 catches for 217 yards and a touchdown.

It’s a talented group of backs that's going to be tough for any defense to slow down.

Also considered: BC

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Wide Receiver: Clemson

There may not be a better wide receiver group in the country than what Clemson has returning for the 2018 season, and it got even better with the addition of two of the top 50 players in the 2018 class at the position.

The Tigers lost two of their top receivers from last year’s team in Deon Cain and Ray-Ray McCloud, but there’s so much talent returning for the Tigers that it shouldn’t matter.

Hunter Renfrow returns to Clemson for what feels like his 25th year with the program, but he’ll only be a senior. After recording two touchdowns in the National Championship game against Alabama in 2016, Renfrow caught 60 passes for 602 yards and three touchdowns as a junior.

Tee Higgins was the No. 1 ranked wide receiver in the 2016 recruiting class and he had a very good freshman year with 17 receptions for 345 yards and two touchdowns.

Amari Rogers was another top receiver recruit that was a freshman last year. He caught 19 passes for 123 yards as a freshman, and could be a breakout candidate with more playing time.

The Tigers brought in five-star Derion Kendrick and four-star Justyn Ross to bolster the already talented position group and both players should be able to find a place in the offense immediately.

Also considered: Miami

Tight End: Boston College

The tight ends in the ACC are down this year with the losses of Cam Serigne, Jaylen Samuels, and Christopher Herndon IV, which leaves BC’s Tommy Sweeney as the most productive tight end remaining in the conference.

He led the Eagles in receptions (36), receiving yards (512), and receiving touchdowns (4) as a junior and figures to be featured prominently in BC’s passing attack this fall.

Also considered: None

Offensive Line: Boston College

BC always has a top-notch offensive line and that will be the case again this year.

The Eagles return the second most starts of any offensive line in college football behind Wisconsin with 139 according to Phil Steele, and that unit was already very good last year.

BC allowed just 1.15 sacks per game in 2017 and the lowest number of stops behind the line of scrimmage of any team in the conference according to ESPN.

Also considered: Wake Forest

Defensive Line: Clemson

Christian Wilkins, Austin Bryant, and Clelin Ferrell all returned for their senior seasons in 2018, which is terrible news for every other team in the conference.

When you add in the return of a healthy Dexter Lawrence at defensive tackle, it's the best defensive line in college football and there's not really a close second.

Three of those players should be playing in the NFL next season, and all four will likely be drafted in the first two or three rounds in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Those four players combined for 25 sacks, 45 tackles for loss, and 210 tackles in 2017, and will cause nightmares for opposing offensive lines and offensive coordinators in 2018.

Also considered: None

Linebacker: Miami

Miami has a very good group of junior linebackers that will be returning for their third years as starters.

Shaq Quarterman, Michael Pinckney, and Zach McCloud are entrenched at the linebacker positions, though McCloud will be making the transition into the "striker" position this fall, which is a hybrid safety/linebacker position similar to the star position in FSU's system.

The trio combined for 199 tackles, 22.5 tackles for loss, eight sacks, and seven pass break-ups in 2017.

Quarterman was named second-team All-ACC a year ago, and all three could find their way onto the preseason All-ACC teams heading into the 2018 season.

The Hurricanes also have very good depth led by seniors Mike Smith and Charles Perry and sophomore DeAndre Wilder.

Also considered: Clemson

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Secondary: Notre Dame

Notre Dame returns one of the most experienced secondaries in college football for the 2018 season.

Every starter in the Irish secondary will be at least a junior with cornerback Julian Love leading the charge.

Love earned first-team All-American honors from Sports Illustrated as a sophomore after recording 20 pass break-ups and three interceptions to go along with 68 tackles.

Opposite of Love will be senior Shaun Crawford who had five pass break-ups and an interception as a junior.

Junior Navy transfer Alohi Gilman will start at free safety. He was named the AAC Rookie of the Year in 2016 before transferring and sitting out in 2017.

Junior Jalen Elliot will start at strong safety after posting 43 tackles and two pass break-ups as a sophomore.

Also Considered: Miami

Special Teams: Louisville

Louisville returns the second-best kicker in the conference -- behind FSU's Ricky Aguayo -- in field goal percentage and a punter that was fourth in the conference in yards per punt in 2017.

Junior kicker Blanton Creque made 17 of his 20 field goal attempts in 2017, including making four of his five attempts over 40 yards.

Junior punter Mason King averaged 43.88 yards per punt as a sophomore after averaging 43.87 ypp as a freshman.

The Cardinals' return kickoff return team returns junior Malik Williams and sophomore Seth Dawkins. Williams averaged 22.5 yards per return and Dawkins averaged 21.86.

Louisville will need to find a new punt returner with cornerback Jaire Alexander off to the NFL.

Also considered: None