A Deeper Delve Into FSU’s OL Woes

Often times, fans are too quick to point towards the offensive line when other positions are at fault. Sometimes it is the quarterback for making bad reads or holding the ball too long. Sometimes it’s the receivers for being out of position. Sometimes it’s the running back for not picking up a block.

We’re eight games into 2016, and it is quite evident that the Florida State offensive line is not coached well and cannot properly block for its quarterback.

In what might have been the most blatant mental breakdown for the offensive line yet, Florida State had a chance on Saturday to beat Clemson. It had the No. 3 team in the nation on its heels, with a little more than two minutes to go in the game. The Seminoles had averaged 7.1 yards per play and already hung 34 on one of the best defenses in the nation. They were rolling and could have pulled off an upset in front of more than 70,000 fans.

Enter the offensive line.

Two false starts and two blown assignments later, and Clemson forced a turnover on downs to get the ball back and run out the clock. Florida State did not even get the chance to try and heave a pass up for a touchdown on 4th-and-32. Quarterback Deondre Francois was almost immediately confronted by a defensive lineman when he went back to pass. On the play before that, he got sacked on a 3-man rush.

Games are not decided by one unit. No one will tell you that and for good reason, but it is fair to say, that on the potential game-winning drive, the FSU offensive line was the reason the drive failed. That doesn’t hold true for other parts of the game, but it does hold true for that episode. Every other player on the offense did his job, except the offensive line.

The larger problem is that these issues are not new. Rick Trickett has now been the offensive line coach at FSU for almost a decade. For three out of the past four years, the product he has put on field is simply not at the consistent level it should be producing.

Bill Connelly at SB Nation has quite the stats glossary, and the numbers included in those are metrics for offensive line efficiency. While no number will tell the whole picture, the ones given for the past three years paint an accurate picture of Trickett’s lines.

Often times they will excel in certain areas while being woeful in others. Worse yet, they rarely show any sort of pattern. Before looking at the table, here are the definitions of the terms and what they are measuring. These are taken directly from the Football Outsiders website. The final column is our own addition, though it is drawn from Bill Connelly’s previews as well.

Adjusted Line Yards – Statistic that attempts to, even to a small extent, separate the ability of a running back from the ability of the offensive line. Adjusted Line Yards begin as a measure of average rushing yards per play by running backs only, adjusted in the following way: 0-4 yards (100% strength), 5-10 yards (50% strength), 11+ yards (not included), runs for a loss (120% strength).

Opportunity Rate – The percentage of carries (when five yards are available) that gain at least five yards, i.e. the percentage of carries in which the line does its job, so to speak.

Power Success Rate - Percentage of runs on third or fourth down, two yards or less to go, that achieved a first down or touchdown.

Stuff Rate - Percentage of carries by running backs that are stopped at or before the line of scrimmage.

Adjusted Sack Rate – An opponent-adjusted version of a team’s sack rate — sacks divided by (sacks plus passes), presented on a scale in which 100 is perfectly average, above 100 is good, below 100 is bad.

An example of odd fluctuation is in the adjusted sack rate. The highest FSU finish is 9th in 2014. As of right now, Florida State is 95th in the nation. Ever since 2012, FSU has been remarkably lacking in opportunity rate. In 2012 the Seminoles were No. 1 overall, in 2013 they were No. 8, in 2014 they were 79th, and in 2015 they were No. 54. Right now, they are No. 60.

There are some encouraging numbers for Trickett of course. At times, his lines have ranked near the top of areas like stuff rate and adjusted sack rate, but the problem continues to be if he is actually getting the most out of his linemen. In 2013, the national championship team, the Seminoles returned a total of 96 starts from the year prior. Not surprisingly, they graded out well in most key areas besides adjusted sack rate. 

In two comparable or better years — 2014 and the current year — the Seminoles have been unable to replicate their success. The 2014 line seems almost inexcusable. It had an enormous amount of returning starts. Center Bryan Stork was the only departure, but somehow it got worse in almost every area.

Now, Stork was a great center and especially good at calling out defensive alignments, but one player leaving should not cause that much of a drop-off, especially when you consider that the four returning were seniors and three went on to be drafted. There are numbers besides advanced stats however, that can show where the line is failing.

FSU currently ranks 126th in the FBS when it comes to penalty yards per game. The Seminoles are averaging 83.9 so far. If Florida State’s line does not turn it around soon, it will probably end the year being an average unit.

Are Trickett’s lines terrible? No. The only line of his that could garner that designation would be the 2015 one, but he only had nine returning starts — the second fewest in the nation. The question should not revolve around whether or not he is a decent coach in the first place. Instead, it’s a question of him fixing the present issues and if he can help the line reach its full potential.

The glaring lack of consistency has been plaguing the FSU offense for about three years now. Despite having some of the best FSU skill players in history come through, the offensive line has lagged behind the rest of the team.

On Saturday night, it came to a head. Now everyone knows that the unit has lacked proper coaching and the faith in the coaches has been severely hit. Trickett will need to figure out the line, and quickly orr else this issue will keep re-appearing and holding the team back.