FSU Football: Assessing Jacques Patrick’s Past, Present and Future

It’s pretty evident that no one is going to overtake Dalvin Cook as the top back on Florida State’s roster. Cook is coming off a record-breaking year for FSU in which he rushed for a school-record 1,691 yards and is just 1,260 rushing yards away from tying Warrick Dunn’s career-mark at FSU.

What head coach Jimbo Fisher and the Seminoles hope to be able to do in 2016 is lighten Cook’s load. Last season, Cook carried the ball 229 times, the second-most in FSU history, and did so on a bad hamstring and ankle. One of the guys Florida State is looking to lighten that load is sophomore Jacques Patrick.

A 5-star back out of high school in Orlando, according to Rivals and a 4-star prospect per the 247Sports Composite rankings, Patrick was given an opportunity to shine in the middle part of last season after injuries to Mario Pender and Johnathan Vickers.

After an ankle injury to Cook forced him to miss the Halloween showdown with Syracuse, Patrick got the start and it appeared a star had been born. In a 45-21 FSU victory, Patrick rushed for 162 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries against a lackluster Orange defense.

The outstanding performance against the Orange led some to believe that FSU might have the best 1-2 punch when it came to tailbacks moving forward. Outside of the Syracuse game however, Patrick collected just 152 yards on the ground and two scores on 39 carries. That translates to about 3.9 yards per carry.

With the exception of the aforementioned Oct. 31 contest, Patrick was largely a non-factor for the Seminoles last season. Here’s a look at how his freshman season compared to other FSU backs to get at least 50 carries as freshmen over the last 25 years:

*Redshirts included in chart

Overall, Patrick’s freshman season was probably toward the back of the pack compared to other notable FSU freshman backs to see significant playing time. Among the 11 on the chart, Patrick ranked seventh in carries, ninth in rushing yards, eighth in yards per carry and tied for fifth in touchdown runs.

For a while, Patrick seemed to be the favorite to be the No. 2 back behind Cook in 2016, but that water has become a bit murkier. Redshirt junior Ryan Green has impressed in both spring and fall camp after separating his shoulder following a move to the secondary in spring of 2015. The play of true freshman Amir Rasul has also drawn praise from Fisher since the start of camp earlier this month.

For Patrick, there is some pressure to make a noticeable impact this season. While Cook is expected to make the jump to the NFL following the 2016 season, the Seminoles have two very talented backs coming for 2017 in the forms of Khalan Laborn and Zaquandre White, not mention Cook’s brother, James, who arrives in 2018.

Though he slimmed down this offseason and moves very well, another aspect that Patrick has working against him is that he is more of a power-back at 6-2 and more than 225 pounds. Under Fisher, the Seminoles have tended to value more versatility in the backfield over power. That’s not to say that power-backs have not been used under Fisher.

James Wilder Jr. was viewed mostly as a power-back and played a prominent role in FSU’s run to the 2012 ACC Championship, finishing with 635 rushing yards and 13 total touchdowns while averaging 5.8 yards per rush. Wilder contributed 563 yards rushing en route to a national championship the following season while splitting carries with Devonta Freeman and Karlos Williams. Wilder however, was never given more than 16 carries in any game during his career.

Patrick was given 50 percent more than that in his only start last season, but whether that ever becomes the norm for him during his time in Tallahassee remains to be seen.

Still, Patrick’s overall makeup gives him a strong chance of becoming a significant contributor during his time at FSU. Patrick doesn’t fit the mold of a typical No. 1 back for a Fisher offense, but that doesn’t mean things can’t change or that the Seminoles can’t find a meaningful role that suits both Patrick and the team.

The biggest knocks on Patrick last season were that he didn’t always run with the physicality that was expected from him and that he was sometimes slow to hit the hole. With a year in the system under his belt and a more veteran offensive line, not seeing a significant uptick in production from Patrick this year would be extremely disappointing.