Corey Clark

Tallahassee Democrat columnist

TALLAHASSEE -- The Florida State football team opens up camp on Tuesday afternoon. The Seminoles, who are ranked No. 4 in the USA Today preseason poll, bring back the entire offense and much of the defense from last year’s 10-3 team.

They are expected to be very good. Once again. But there are still some unknowns as FSU heads into the seventh season of the Jimbo Fisher Era.

Three obvious questions

1. Who will be the quarterback?

This will be the main storyline throughout the next month as fifth-year senior Sean Maguire and redshirt freshman Deondre Francois battle it out for the starting spot.

Maguire has the experience advantage, of course, having played in 21 games in his career — including two starts against Clemson the last two years. He has proven to be a capable quarterback, but he is prone to mistakes (four interceptions against Houston) and missed all of the spring recovering from a broken ankle he suffered in the Peach Bowl.

Francois, who worked with the starters during the spring, is more athletic than Maguire and has about as strong an arm as anyone in the country. But he has zero experience.

Head coach Jimbo Fisher has never been one to go with experience just for experience’s sake. He’s going to go with the best player regardless of class. And he has a month to figure out, for sure, who his best player is at quarterback.

2. Will the offensive line be better?

The group was besieged by injuries in 2015 and struggled at times to find any sort of cohesion. But it still paved the way for Dalvin Cook to rush for 1,691 yards. There’s talent in this group. And plenty of experience.

But for FSU to make another run at a national championship the line will have to be better — and healthier — than it was a season ago.

3. Who will replace Ramsey?

It’s not easy to replace an All-American and the No. 5 pick in the NFL Draft. But at Florida State it’s not impossible either. The two frontrunners to fill Jalen Ramsey’s vacated cornerback spot are sophomores Tarvarus McFadden and Marcus Lewis.

McFadden is listed at 6-foot-2, 200 pounds and was a five-star recruit coming out of high school. Lewis is listed at 6-1, 190 and was one of the best defensive players on the field in April’s spring game. One of these two figure to be lining up opposite returning starter Marquez White when the season starts in Orlando on Labor Day.

Three questions not being asked

1. Will FSU practice tackling with its field goal team this fall?

The Seminoles may have lost to Georgia Tech in overtime anyway, but not being able to put a hand on the returnman after that blocked kick handed the Yellow Jackets their most memorable — and only — ACC win of the season.

Who knows? Maybe the new Aguayo is a better tackler than the old one?

2. Can Derwin James play offense?

The answer to this question is this: Of course.

The answer to the question of will he play offense though is: Of course not.

The guy is a super freak. Jimbo Fisher says he’s one of the most athletic guys he’s ever seen. And maybe the most competitive. So if the Seminoles struggle in the red zone some more in 2016 why not try James out at receiver for a few plays? He might be able to come down with his fair share of jump balls, right?

Then again, Fisher probably doesn’t want to risk running routes with one of the best safeties in the country.

3. Will FSU ever return a punt for a touchdown again?

It’s been 46 games since the Seminoles last had one (Tyler Hunter vs. Duke in 2012). And judging from last year’s lack of success — FSU averaged just 3.7 yards on 34 total returns — it’s not getting any closer to happening.

Florida State, which has had some of the best punt returners in college football history, has become Fair Catch U as of late. Will that trend continue in 2016?

Three strengths

1. The running back

Dalvin Cook is the most talented back in school history. And has a chance to break all the FSU career records in 2016 if he stays healthy. There’s never been another runner in garnet and gold quite like this guy.

Every carry is a potential touchdown. And almost every game is a highlight reel. Quite simply, he’s one of the best players in the United States.

2. The secondary

For the last half-decade Florida State has started the season with arguably the best secondary in the country. This year is no exception. Even with the loss of Jalen Ramsey, the Seminoles have talent, experience and former five-star recruits all over the field.

And Derwin James could be the best safety in school history by the time his career is over. He’s that good.

3. Defensive end

DeMarcus Walker has turned into a great college football player. And Josh Sweat, who started for much of the year as a freshman, could turn himself into an absolute force on the other side. There aren’t many programs in the country that have a defensive-end tandem like the Seminoles.

Three weaknesses

1. The kicking game

It’s probably too early to call it a “weakness,” but it’s certainly a big question mark as the Seminoles must replace a four-year starter at punter and arguably the best placekicker in college football history.

2. Linebacker depth

There just isn’t a lot of proven experience here. Ro’Derrick Hoskins is a nice player and could have a breakout season in 2016. But he’s the only linebacker on the roster that has really proven himself. Matthew Thomas is the wildcard in this group. The former five-star recruit hasn’t played a full season since high school.

3. Forcing turnovers

This is an area where Florida State’s defense still needs to improve. Even with all the gains the Seminoles made in Charles Kelly’s second year as coordinator, forcing turnovers was the notable exception.

The defense had just eight interceptions in 2015, which was 12th best in the ACC. FSU’s talented unit has to figure out a way to create more game-changing plays in 2016.

Quotables

“The legacy the guys in the past have left, the legacy these guys are leaving the next group, very excited about where we’re going in the future. That’s what it’s all about. That’s what we expect at Florida State. That’s how we play. That’s why these guys come here.”

--- FSU head coach Jimbo Fisher

“With our strength and conditioning, our practices are so hard, when it come game day, it's really slower than the actual game. We’ve just got to, you know, continue to practice hard like we always do, just get signals faster, line up and play football.”

--- FSU defensive end DeMarcus Walker

“I’ve got to keep pushing these guys to be the guys I know they can be, to be the team I know we can be. Got to keep working on these guys and pushing them the right way.”

--- FSU running back Dalvin Cook