Wayne E McGahee III

Democrat staff writer

Florida State is nearly halfway through its allotted 15 spring practice.

The Seminoles have eight practices left this spring including a scrimmage on Monday and the Spring Game at 3 p.m. on April 8th, but certain things are already becoming clear.

Offense

FSU has its starting quarterback in sophomore Deondre Francois, and he has stepped into more of a leadership role this spring.

It’s his offense now, and he’s taken control of it.

At running back there’s quite a battle going on. Jacques Patrick, Amir Rasul, and Cam Akers are standing out to both the coaches and the players.

Patrick is the leader in the clubhouse to start for the Seminoles, but it’s Akers making all the noise. FSU coach Jimbo Fisher, and players on both offense and defense have mentioned him as a guy standing out quite a bit.

There’s different qualities mentioned about each running back on the roster, but when Akers’ name comes up there’s always a “he can do it all” comment somewhere in the conversation.

Rasul has not faced any contact due to a shoulder injury that he had surgery on last year, but Fisher has been pleased with his vision and ability to catch the ball out of the backfield.

Wide receiver has become a significant issue for the Seminoles this spring. They were already down to just five scholarship receivers on the roster to start the spring before sophomore Keith Gavin went down with an ankle injury.

Redshirt sophomore receiver George Campbell has also been limited as he continues to recover from a core muscle injury that sidelined him all of last season. He practices for a couple days and then gets a day of rest.

That leaves just junior wide receivers Auden Tate, Nyqwan Murray, and Da’Vante Phillips available to practice.

Fisher has been lukewarm when talking about the unit as a whole.

The tight end unit has been praised as a whole, but redshirt junior Ryan Izzo has been praised the most consistently.

The Seminoles had to find a replacement for left tackle Roderick Johnson, who declared for the 2017 NFL draft. Fisher stated that Ethan Frith would start the spring at left tackle, but he has moved inside to guard.

Redshirt freshman Josh Ball is the leading candidate to fill the left tackle role, and things have been trending his way since the start of practice this week.

The right tackle position has also been a battle between senior Rick Leonard and redshirt junior Brock Ruble. Neither player appears to have an edge at this time.

At center, starter Alec Eberle has been out, and redshirt freshmen Baveon Johnson and Andrew Boselli have been battling this spring. Baveon appears to have an edge in the battle at this time.

FSU defensive end Josh Sweat determined to get rid of lazy perception

Defense

The defensive line returns three starters from a year ago in Josh Sweat, Demarcus Christmas, and Derrick Nnadi, but needed to find a replacement for strong-side defensive end DeMarcus Walker, who has led the team in sacks each of the last two years.

There hasn’t been a player that has taken control of that spot yet. Jalen Wilkerson, Janarius Robinson, and Josh Kaindoh are all fighting for the job, but FSU could also move Sweat over from the weak-side, though he is against the move.

FSU finally has depth at linebacker

At linebacker, FSU has depth and two quality starters. Matthew Thomas is building off a stellar Orange Bowl performance against Michigan where he had 15 tackles, and is really taking a leadership role on the defensive side of the ball.

Sophomore cornerback Levonta Taylor has taken over the field cornerback role vacated by Marquez White, and has been consistently praised by his teammates and coaches so far.

With junior boundary cornerback Tarvarus McFadden out for the spring with a shoulder injury a lot of younger players have gotten playing time. Sophomore Carlos Becker has worked there, and so has true freshman early enrollee Stanford Samuels III.

At safety, there’s a group of talented, experienced players with just two spots to play them. Luckily for the players behind redshirt sophomore Derwin James and senior Trey Marshall, both are versatile enough to play other positions.

Injuries lead to experience for FSU safeties

James can play on the back end, at the line against the run, and rush the passer. He has also played a little bit of corner this spring.

Marshall switches back and forth between the safety and star roles, and it’s allowed A.J. Westbrook, Cyrus Fagan, and Nate Andrews to get reps on the back end.

Kyle Meyers has been working at the star position mostly.

Special Teams

FSU’s kickoff returners both graduated last season so both spots are up for grabs.

Ryan Green, Cam Akers, Derwin James, and Amir Rasul are all getting reps with that unit currently.

Logan Tyler and Ricky Aguayo continue to battle for the field goal kicker duties.

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