Florida State Fall Camp Observations: Practice 16
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Florida State returned to the practice field on Tuesday morning to begin its final week of the preseason. A week from now, the Seminoles will be preparing for their first game of the 2022 campaign.
NoleGameday was in attendance for the session and we've listed some observations from different position groups and players below.
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— The Chicago Bears, New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals, and Denver Broncos all had representatives at practice.
— Like the majority of the preseason, refs were in attendance for practice on Tuesday morning. There were a lot of penalties on both sides of the ball that drew the ire of the coaching staff.
Offense:
— On Tuesday morning we learned that redshirt freshman Joshua Burrell was switching positions from wide receiver to running back. Burrell looked smooth through practice early but later on during team drills he stood out the most out of all running backs. He had one run in particular where he exploded and found the perfect hole to hit and in a real game would have gone for six. Norvell and the offensive staff were loving what they saw. Not the position change we expected but the staff may be onto something here.
— Catch of the day came from wide receiver Kentron Poitier on a gorgeous deep route going in the air to bring the ball in. An acrobatic catch right in front of Coach Norvell. A really impressive play by the redshirt sophomore in one on ones with the defensive back in good coverage.
— This was one of the most inconsistent practices we've seen so far from the quarterback unit. Jordan Travis, AJ Duffy, and Tate Rodemaker were up and down throughout the session. For whatever reason, they were just a little bit off at times on Tuesday morning.
— Darius Washington, Zane Herring, Thomas Shrader, Bryson Estes, and Qae'Shon Sapp took the bulk of work at center during the practice. There were a few snaps that were off target but nothing over the head. A few snaps fell too low or too far outside to the left or right.
— The offensive line was also pretty up and down during Tuesday's practice. The run blocking was excellent for the most part as the running backs found hole after hole. However, there is still some work to do when it comes to protecting the passer. Early pressure forced the quarterbacks to get outside of the pocket multiple times on the day. Jordan Travis took the most advantage of it, recording a few nice scrambles.
— As we've said, quarterback AJ Duffy is noticeably more confident and that's led to an uptick in his day to day production. On one throw, Duffy went through multiple progressions before checking down to a Deuce Spann over the middle. It was a simple pass but showed the development of Duffy not panicking when his first reads aren't available.
— The tight ends and wide receivers struggled with drops throughout practice. Some of the blame can go on balls that were too far behind or too far in front of the unit. However, there were definitely some balls that hit the ground that should've been caught.
— Running backs Trey Benson and Lawrance Toafili each had good days. On one play, Norvell was pleased with a run from Toafili between the tackles where he shifted through a tight hole to get to the next level.
— Tight end Preston Daniel had a beautiful catch in contested coverage from Jordan Travis. The pass was tipped by linebacker Tatum Bethune but Daniel adjusted to get both feet in while coming down with the football.
— Quarterback AJ Duffy and wide receiver Deuce Spann connected on a perfect pitch and catch late in practice that would've gone for a touchdown. Duffy hit Spann in stride at the goal line.
— Wide receiver Malik McClain was wide open at portions during Tuesday's practice.
Defense:
— Defensive tackle Joshua Farmer continues to be a problem in the middle as he brought in a sack early in practice and flashed numerous times. His strength is not easy to deal with and he’s taking advantage of it getting to the backfield causing pressures from the inside.
— Defensive back Jarques McClellion intercepted Jordan Travis on back to back plays during the early portion of practice. However, McClellion was ruled out of bounds in the back of the end zone by the referee on both plays. Regardless, good effort from the veteran to make a play on the ball.
— That doesn't mean Jordan Travis got off scot-free though. In red zone drills, Travis threw into the end zone for an open Johnny Wilson. The pass wasn't in the right spot and defensive back Renardo Green made a leaping play to pick it off.
— One linebacker that stood out was Amari Gainer. He was all over the field Tuesday morning making plays and putting himself in the right spots all throughout the practice.
— Linebacker Brendan Gant continues to make plays after switching positions. During team, Gant bounced off a block from a tight end and brought down Trey Benson for no gain.
— Linebacker DJ Lundy and defensive back Greedy Vance made a smart play to stay home on a reverse. They didn't get fooled by the movement and Lundy recorded a tackle for loss while Vance filled the gap.
— Defensive tackle Robert Cooper and defensive end Dennis Briggs were constantly in the backfield throughout the day. Defensive end Leonard Warner also had some good moments.
— Defensive tackle Jarrett Jackson recovered a fumble on a bad exchange between the quarterback and running back.
— Defensive tackle Bishop Thomas recorded a sack late in practice.
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Stick with NoleGameday for more coverage of Florida State football throughout fall camp.
