FSU Football Might Be Preparing For Offensive Line Shakeup Against No. 10 Alabama

The Florida State Seminoles were forced to rebuild their entire starting offensive line for the second consecutive season. Coming out of 2025, all five starters graduated, leaving the Seminoles with no choice but to hit the NCAA Transfer Portal.

Instead of the proven P4 experience that FSU relied on last year, the Seminoles took a couple of gambles. The coaching staff brought in Chimdia Nwaiwu from the FCS ranks, found Paul Bowling in the G6 at Troy, and landed Nate Pabst from Bowling Green.

Florida State did secure Xavier Chaplin from Auburn, though the veteran was coming off a down season with the Tigers. Bradyn Welch-Joiner had an inconsistent showing in his lone season as the starting center at Purdue.

Even though the offensive linemen remained relatively healthy during the offseason, there was still plenty of uncertainty surrounding the group when the 2026 season kicked off. Those questions and concerns have only grown over two games.

Florida State's top-6 offensive linemen have already allowed 14 pressures, 7 quarterback hurries, 3 quarterback hits, and 3 sacks in eight quarters.

Nwaiwu performed so poorly against SMU that the Seminoles chose to bench him in the second half. Coming out of the BYE week, Florida State may have a new starting five.

FSU May Start Different OL Combination Against Alabama

Florida State has had an extended period of time to re-evaluate its lineup in the trenches thanks to the week off.

Nwaiwu is clearly struggling. He wasn't able to hold up consistently against New Mexico State and SMU, both as a run-blocker and a pass-blocker. In the loss to the Mustangs, he posted a 38.4 pass-blocking grade.

The Seminoles pulled him in the third quarter in favor of Bowling, who took over at right guard, while Pabst flexed out to right tackle.

Bowling didn't exactly impress, allowing 1 sack and grading out at 29.6 as a pass-blocker. He also got thrown into the game randomly and wasn't in rhythm.

Maybe knowing that there's a possibility he'll see significant steps will aid Bowling in putting together a better outing.

While Pabst didn't reveal Florida State's plans, he has been practicing at both positions, in case the Seminoles do follow through with a permanent change.

"I'm getting ready for both. I've been repping both right now, and that's what I did today [Wednesday], and we'll see what happens going forward," Pabst said. "Just doing a little extra after practice, a little extra film watching, understanding what to do at other positions. So right now I will see, but my mindset is that I want to play both."

If Florida State leaves Nwaiwu on the sidelines, the projected starting offensive line is: left tackle Xavier Chaplin, left guard Andre Otto, center Bradyn Welch-Joiner, right guard Paul Bowling, and right tackle Nate Pabst.

Florida State and Alabama will kick off at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 19. The contest will be televised on ABC.

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