FSU Football: Five Players Who Should Make a Bigger Impact This Week

Florida State enters its 2016 home opener riding high. On Monday night, the Seminoles overcame a 22-point first half deficit to down then 11th-ranked Ole Miss, 45-34 for the largest comeback win in school-history.

A number of Seminoles had big nights. Running back Dalvin Cook finished with nearly 200 yards from scrimmage while safety Derwin James led the team in tackles while recording his first career interception. DeMarcus Walker, a senior defensive end, was a half-sack shy of tying the single-game FSU record, finishing with 4.5 and in his first career start, redshirt freshman quarterback Deondre Francois stole the show, passing for 419 yards and rushing for 59.

Those guys shouldn’t be hard to find this week either, but there are a number of Florida State players who should make a bigger impact against Charleston Southern on Saturday. Here are five:

Jacques Patrick, RB
The question as to who would be the main guy carrying the ball behind Dalvin Cook was answered in the form of sophomore Jacques Patrick on Monday. Patrick however, got just six touches in Monday’s win over Ole Miss. With this one potentially becoming a laugher on Saturday, expect to see more touches for Patrick and more yards after recording just 15 total against the Rebels.

Mavin Saunders, TE
Ryan Izzo made an impact on Monday with three catches for 41 yards and a score in Monday’s win over Ole Miss as the FSU starting tight end, but FSU’s No. 2 tight end saw limited action. Against Charleston Southern, expect the Seminoles to get Saunders in the mix a little more. Saunders is a bit more athletic than Izzo, but not as good when it comes to blocking. Still, he stands to be another weapon in a loaded FSU arsenal.

Auden Tate, WR
Out of all the young, talented receivers for FSU, Auden Tate seems to be the one that fans are most high on. At 6-5 and nearly 220 pounds, Tate is a big body with deceptive quickness. Though Tate didn’t have a catch in Monday’s victory, he was targeted a couple times in the end zone. Tate isn’t as proven as veterans like Jesus Wilson or Travis Rudolph, but he brings a different dynamic and could emerge as a weapon in the red zone if nowhere else moving forward.

Arthur Williams, DT
Against a run-heavy option offense on Saturday, Florida State will need to play well defensively at the point of the attack. Derrick Nnadi and Demarcus Christmas are a solid duo starting at defensive tackle, but that is a position where the Seminoles need to develop depth. Arthur Williams is redshirt sophomore expected to provide that depth, but did not play in the opener against Ole Miss.

Fred Jones, DT
You could pretty much rewrite the description for Williams on this one. Though Fred Jones, also a redshirt sophomore, did play against Ole Miss on Monday, his impact was minimal. It’s a long season and FSU will face a slew of capable rushing attacks. Being able to rotate bodies to stop those attacks is important.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson