It seems like only a few months ago that the question arose: How would Florida State utilize all its wide receiver talent?
At one point, a loaded roster included starters like Travis Rudolph, Jesus Wilson, and Kermit Whitfield, with younger guys like Auden Tate, Nyqwan Murray, and George Campbell expected to get decent amounts of reps. Included were talented players like Ermon Lane and Da’Vante Phillips, who had the raw ability to at least contend for playing time.
As usual, the unexpected happened. George Campbell was out for the year after he underwent surgery on a core muscle. Injuries in the secondary necessitated Lane’s move to safety. Wilson sustained a broken foot. By the middle of the Orange Bowl, true freshman Keith Gavin was getting legitimate playing time.
That’s not a slight on Gavin; he’s incredibly talented, but it certainly was not expected coming into the game. To top it all off, Rudolph decided to enter the 2017 NFL Draft. It was probably the best move for him, but it also meant that FSU would be entering 2017 with a thin roster at wide receiver.
As it currently stands, the Seminoles are returning only two wide receivers who had more than 10 receptions last year or for their careers for that matter. That would be Auden Tate (409 yards, 6 touchdowns) and Nyqwan Murray (441 yards, 5 touchdowns). The only other receiver to catch a pass was Da’Vante Phillips, who had four receptions for 33 yards. That means that FSU is only returning around 25 percent of its receiving production.
The silver lining is that it lets some of the younger talent have the opportunity to crack the rotation. It’s not all doom-and-gloom when it comes to actually having capable replacements. In fact, the future seems very bright.
Gavin, Campbell, and Phillips were all top 100 players coming out of high school, and all three will have their shot at becoming a starter. Whichever of the three become the backups will also certainly be getting a lot of rotation throughout the season.
Where the real issue arises involves the depth chart.
In 2016, FSU saw two receivers out with injury: Wilson and Campbell. If two receivers come down with significant injuries in 2017, the prospect of playing true freshmen like D.J. Matthews and Tamorrion Terry becomes very real. Both players need time to adjust at the college level.
Terry is certainly more of a project, while Matthews could probably be decent starting in the slot about midway through the year. The point however, is FSU would prefer not to do that. There’s not much it can do for 2017 at this point, but the 2018 receiver class will almost certainly attempt to rectify this situation.
The last three recruiting classes have seen FSU grab seven wide receivers, but the most recent two only had three combined. Expect 2018 to be more like the 2015 class, where the Seminoles brought in Campbell, Phillips, Tate and Murray. The state of Florida is loaded with receiving talent and you can bet that head coach Jimbo Fisher and company are already focusing on it.
In terms of those already committed to Florida State, Justin Watkins is one that will likely fill one of those receiving spots. Watkins is the No. 1 athlete in his class and 39th overall player, per the 247Sports Composite rankings.
He has the perfect skill set to be either a cornerback or wide receiver. Since FSU has largely loaded up in the secondary and is projecting another great haul in 2018, Watkins will likely find a spot on the offensive side of the ball.
There are currently eight blue chip receivers in Florida for the upcoming 2018 class. One of them — Daquris Wiggins — has been committed to Miami for over a year, and it doesn’t seem like he’s wavering in his commitment anytime soon. Obviously things could change, but for now he seems to be the only one who is certain where he is going. That leaves seven in-state receivers that FSU could go after.
Early predictions for some of those prospects lean in FSU’s favor. Jacob Copeland (No. 11 receiver) out of Pensacola has a few crystal balls to Florida State so far, according to 247Sports. Warren Thompson (No. 22 receiver) could also be one to watch.
Aside from those names however, FSU is also pursuing out of state options like Alabama wide receiver Seth Williams (No. 24 position prospect) and Georgia wide receiver Matthew Hill (No. 27 receiver). If the Seminoles strike out on some big names, they could also do what they did in the 2017 class and grab a prospect like Terry, who would likely have been ranked higher if he had gotten more exposure.
Either way, predictions at this point are very fluid and tend not to be accurate. The rankings will shift and teams will change their priorities based on how prospects perform.
The point remains for Florida State however. It needs to bring in wide receivers for the 2018 class to shore up a deficiency on the roster. Expect the upcoming cycle to include a lot of names at the position
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