The Low Down: Deondre Francois

It might seem far away, but the college football season draws closer each day. Few players throughout the country have the questions surrounding them that Florida State quarterback Deondre Francois does.

After a good start to his career in 2016, many have pegged Francois as a potential Heisman contender and top 5 quarterback in the near future. How true is that? Florida State fans saw the good and the bad last season and are anxious to see where Francois improves.

So who is Deondre Francois? We’ve done a short primer to break down Francois as a player, and examine the aspects of his game. We do not claim to be professional scouts; these are simply observations that we feel became apparent. More Seminole players will be looked at in the coming days before the season kicks off against Alabama in Atlanta.

Strengths

Patience in the pocket: One of the hallmarks of successful quarterbacks is the ability to stand tall in the pocket. There’s never been a long-term quarterback that gets jittery when he feels pressure. That doesn’t apply to Francois. He rarely gets flushed out of the pocket, instead letting his receivers complete their routes and finding the open man. This is essential to running a Jimbo Fisher offense, and it showed in 2016 with another high finish in the S&P ratings. Francois’ ability to threaten from the pocket has a huge impact even if he doesn’t have a great game.

Toughness: It became a running theme throughout the season that Francois may have been the toughest player in the country. Despite seemingly taking big hits and sacks every game, at no point was Francois out for an extended period of time. Some of it was his own doing, sure, but he should still be lauded for his impressive ability to jump right back up from hits that made viewers wince. For a program that has often been on the bad side of quarterback injury luck, Francois’ durability was nothing short of season-saving.

Arm strength: Very few balls ever “float” on Francois. His interceptions happen when he misses his target — not because he threw a duck. He had some noticeable issues with screen passes, but he can launch a ball when he needs to and rifle in a tight pass. Arm strength is sometimes viewed as a perk instead of a necessity, yet having a quarterback that can threaten with the deep ball forces a defense to adjust its tendencies. This was on display in a 37-34 loss to Clemson last year. Even if it was a comparatively rough night for Francois on the whole, the Seminoles were able to stay tight with the eventual national champions by putting pressure on its secondary. The Tigers had a string of pass interference calls go against them initiated by Francois pushing the ball downfield.

Jump ball placement: This trait was immortalized with the final touchdown of the season to Nyqwan Murray in the Orange Bowl. That wasn’t necessarily a jump ball, though it did exemplify something that Francois was good at throughout the season. In certain situations where it was his receiver going one-on-one with a cornerback, Francois excelled at placing the ball in great position for his receiver to make a play on it. These can be dangerous passes if not executed correctly.

Weaknesses

Too much patience in the pocket: There is such a thing as being too patient in the pocket. Francois shared a good amount of responsibility for the hits he took last year, because he would often stay in a collapsing pocket waiting for his receiver to get more than necessary separation. If that receiver didn’t actually get open, he was a sitting duck for defenders. Francois is not a natural runner, but he would greatly benefit from being more mobile in the pocket and taking off for a short gain.

Inaccuracy: The biggest weakness for Francois is general inaccuracy. The good news is that he flashed an ability to make perfect passes throughout the season. The bad news is that it was often overshadowed by missing open receivers on inaccurate throws. It takes some time for a quarterback to gel with his receivers and get to know their routes and abilities. Florida State hopes that this helps Francois for 2017, because the offense could truly be the best in the nation if he executes all the passes that he has all the physical and mental ability for.

Forcing passes: Francois didn’t do this all that often, but it still reared its head more than a few times. When it did show up, it often had huge consequences. Francois put too much faith in his ability to make difficult throws, and instead made inexplicable mistakes that led to momentum swings. Sometimes the best pass is the one out of bounds.

Best Performance of 2016

Sept. 5 vs. Ole Miss: It turns out that his first start happened to be his best of the year. Facing a 28-6 deficit just before halftime, Francois led the Seminoles down the field for a touchdown that tightened the gap. Francois became a machine from there on. He showed incredible poise and rhythm, tossing for over 400 yards and two touchdowns in his debut, which ended in a 45-34 FSU victory.

Worst Performance of 2016

Dec. 30 vs. Michigan (Orange Bowl): Francois’ night against the Wolverines was a roller-coaster. His best plays were the most important ones, which included a 94-yard touchdown pass and the go-ahead touchdown pass in the final minute to win the game. The fact remains that for 95 percent of the game, Francois couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. Much of it was certainly Michigan’s daunting defense, but any time a quarterback completes less than 40 percent of his passes and throws a pick-six near his own end zone, it’s a bad game.

What to Expect in 2017

Expect Francois to an improved quarterback who is able to carry more of an offensive load as a redshirt sophomore. Fans expecting a Heisman level leap in Francois’ game might be disappointed. That rarely happens with quarterbacks in Jimbo Fisher’s offenses. Instead, they should expect Francois to become smarter in the pocket and generally improve on his accuracy. There’s been rumblings that he has genuinely worked on various weaknesses and progressed considerably. This would be par for the course with second-year quarterbacks under Fisher.

That might be a letdown for those wanting a superstar passer under center. But consider this: even with all the issues that Francois had in 2016, he was still able to help propel FSU to a top-5 offense, according to S&P. Obviously, former running back Dalvin Cook deserves a lot of credit for that, but one would have to be willfully ignorant to act like Francois wasn’t a key piece. Now with another full offseason of practice, Francois should improve his game and be able to shoulder more of the offensive load for the Seminoles. If he progresses like history says he will, fans should feel pretty confident in the team’s chances to reach the College Football Playoff.