FSU Football's Ashton Daniels Come In Higher Than Expected In P4 QB Rankings

The Florida State Seminoles have produced mixed results through the opening chapter of the 2026 season.

If Florida State had to describe the first four games in one word right now, it would probably be 'inconsistent.'

That includes fifth-year quarterback Ashton Daniels and the offense. Somehow, the group scored 36 points on the road against Alabama, but failed to surpass that number in Tallahassee in wins over New Mexico State (34-17) and Central Arkansas (34-7).

Daniels hasn't been great so far. He takes far too long to make decisions and second-guesses himself too often, which leads to late throws or forced passes. At the same time, he's displayed ability in spurts.

Most of his positive moments have come in the last two weeks. He's thrown for 601 of his 928 passing yards this season against Alabama and Central Arkansas; that includes 377 yards through the air in the loss to the Crimson Tide, the second-most of Daniels' career.

Though he's only thrown 6 touchdowns to 5 interceptions, his chemistry with Duce Robinson, Micahi Danzy, and Jayvan Boggs appears to grow each game. Robinson and Boggs have both recorded a 100-yard game in recent outings.

Daniels has plenty of room to improve, but he was a known commodity coming into the season. Even with up-and-down play, he's moved up on ESPN's P4 quarterback rankings since the spring.

Ashton Daniels Ranked Higher Than Expected By ESPN?

Earlier this week, ESPN's Bill Connelly updated his rankings of all 68 quarterbacks in the P4, with the calendar flipping to October.

Daniels actually improved his initial standing, as he now sits at No. 34, compared to No. 38 in the roundup from the spring. That's a four-spot jump.

"FSU's offense is built around dam-busting -- the Seminoles are just 87th in success rate, but they've gained 20-plus yards on 10.6% of their snaps (fourth)," Connelly wrote. "Ousmane Kromah can break tackles and bust big run plays, but Daniels is also attempting high-risk, high-reward passes and averaging 16.0 yards per completion (with a low completion rate)."

"It's an exciting approach that guarantees inconsistency," Connelly added.

Ah, so we're back to that word. It's worth bringing up that Daniels has scored 4 touchdowns on the ground, and his legs are useful when he's willing to use them.

Daniels came in ahead of two of Florida State's other transfer targets: Wisconsin's Colton Joseph (No. 43) and Baylor's DJ Lagway (No. 52). He was behind Nebraska's Anthony Colandrea (No. 22).

Five quarterbacks that the Seminoles have yet to play are ranked higher than Daniels: Miami's Darian Mensah (No. 1), Louisville's Lincoln Kienholz (No. 10), Florida's Aaron Philo (No. 12), Virginia's Beau Pribula (No. 24), and Pittsburgh's Mason Heintschel (No. 28).

Heintschel was injured on Friday night and his status is unclear moving forward.

The Florida State Seminoles match up against the Virginia Cavaliers on Saturday, October 3. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

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