FSU Not Immune to QB Transfer Epidemic

Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher is regarded by many as a quarterback guru and for good reason. Since arriving at FSU in 2007 and becoming head coach in 2010, Fisher has had three quarterbacks go on to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, most notably 2015’s No. 1 overall pick, Jameis Winston.

Even Fisher however, isn’t immune to the harsh reality of volatility and high turnover at the quarterback position in modern college football. The latest case came late Monday night as highly-touted Malik Henry announced his decision to leave the program after just one year.

Here’s a brief looked at each of the nine quarterbacks Fisher has signed since becoming head coach in 2010:

Snapshot

Clint Trickett
Recruiting Rankings: 3-star, No. 32 pro-style QB of 2010
Career FSU Stats: 62% completions, 947 yards passing, 7 touchdowns, 4 interceptions
Record as Starter: 0-2
How FSU Career Ended: Trickett transferred to West Virginia following the spring of 2013.
Notable FSU Accomplishments: Trickett passed for 336 yards in his first career start in 2011 — a 35-30 loss at Clemson.

Jacob Coker
Recruiting Rankings: 3-star, No. 15 pro-style QB of 2011
Career Stats: 51% completions, 295 yards passing, 2 total touchdowns, 1 interception
Record as Starter: N/A
How FSU Career Ended: Coker transferred to Alabama following the 2013 season.
Notable FSU Accomplishments: None.

Jameis Winston
Recruiting Rankings: 5-star, No. 1 dual-threat QB of 2012
Career Stats: 66% completions, 7,964 yards passing, 72 total touchdowns, 28 interceptions
Record as Starter: 26-1
How FSU Career Ended: Declared early for draft following the 2014 season, was selected first overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Notable FSU Accomplishments: 2013 winner of Heisman Trophy, Walter Camp Award, Manning Award, Archie Griffin Award, Davey O’Brien Award, 2-time All-ACC, Consensus All-American, 2013 ACC Player of the Year, 2-time ACC champion, 2013 national champion, highest FSU player ever taken in NFL Draft.

Sean Maguire
Recruiting Rankings: 3-star, No. 25 pro-style QB of 2012
Career Stats: 58% completions, 2,039 yards passing, 16 touchdown passes, 11 interceptions
Record as Starter: 4-2
How FSU Career Ended: With graduation. The Capital One Orange Bowl on Dec. 30 against Michigan will be Maguire’s final game.
Notable FSU Accomplishments: Two wins over ranked opponents (Clemson 2014, at Florida 2015), rallied FSU from a 10-point first half deficit against N.C. State in 2015 in relief of Everett Golson.

John Franklin III
Recruiting Rankings: 3-star, No. 29 dual-threat QB of 2013
Career Stats: N/A
Record as Starter: N/A
How FSU Career Ended: Franklin transferred prior to the 2015 season.
Notable FSU Accomplishments: None.

J.J. Consentino
Recruiting Rankings: 4-star, No. 13 pro-style QB of 2014
Career Stats: 37% completions, 46 yards, 1 touchdown pass, 0 interceptions
Record as Starter: N/A
How FSU Career Ended: Consentino is still enrolled at FSU and on the roster.
Notable FSU Accomplishments: None.

Deondre Francois
Recruiting Rankings: 4-star, No. 3 dual-threat QB of 2015
Career Stats: 61% completions, 3,128 yards passing, 22 total touchdowns, 6 interceptions
Record as Starter: 9-3
How FSU Career Ended: Francois is the current starter for FSU and is slated to make his 13th career start against Michigan in the Orange Bowl.
Notable FSU Accomplishments: ACC Rookie of the Year, ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year, three victories over ranked opponents as a freshman in 2016 (Ole Miss, at Miami, Florida).

De’Andre Johnson
Recruiting Rankings: 3-star, No. 11 dual-threat QB of 2015
Career Stats: N/A
Record as Starter: N/A
How FSU Career Ended: Johnson was dismissed from the program after surveillance showed Johnson punching a woman at a Tallahassee bar prior to the 2015 season. Johnson is currently excelling on the field at East Mississippi Community College.
Notable FSU Accomplishments: None.

Malik Henry
Recruiting Rankings: 4-star, No. 4 pro-style QB of 2016
Career Stats: N/A
Record as Starter: N/A
How FSU Career Ended: Henry announced his transfer Monday night.
Notable FSU Accomplishments: None.

Summary

Since Fisher became head coach in 2010, five of the nine quarterbacks signed have transferred or been dismissed. Of those five, three never threw a pass and four never made a start. The other four are Winston, Maguire, Francois and Consentino. Winston was a generational player while Francois has a very bright future.

Maguire was productive in his limited time on campus, but was primarily a backup capable of getting the job done on short notice. The promise of Consentino becoming a contributor during his time at Florida State is not very high.

While this sounds bad on the surface, it’s part of college football and compared to some programs, FSU isn’t in bad shape at all. For example, Florida has lost six quarterbacks who made starts for the Gators since early 2013 and since the 2013 season, have not had a quarterback start more than nine games in a season. Even Alabama — college football preeminent power — has recently lost three scholarship quarterbacks to transfers. The simple fact of that matter is kids want to play and usually, they want to play early.

If you look at the college football landscape, transfer quarterbacks are everywhere. Of the 12 teams FSU faced this season, four started a quarterback who had transferred from somewhere else. If you look at the College Football Playoff rankings, five or the nation’s top 25 teams or 20 percent will start a transfer quarterback in their upcoming bowl game. Just last season, Notre Dame transfer Everett Golson started eight of FSU’s 13 games.

On the Horizon

Henry’s decision to transfer brings depth concerns at quarterback for Florida State, but it might not be as scary as it seems. Francois has certainly taken a beating this season, but with only one game left, the Seminoles will still have Maguire’s services in the Orange Bowl if they need them.

Consentino will have all spring and the early parts of fall to develop into a competent backup and if worse comes to worst, the Seminoles have two quarterbacks committed for 2017 in Bailey Hockman, a 4-star pro-style quarterback from Georgia and James Blackman, a 3-star prospect from Belle Glade with a ton of upside. Walk-on and UCF transfer Jake Rizzo is another young player who has impressed coaches.

While it’s true that the Seminoles could be in trouble in 2017 if Francois goes down, that’s true for a large number of programs, including almighty Alabama in its current state with Jalen Hurts as the only scholarship quarterback. In the case of Henry, he had spent so little time with the team this season that it’s impossible to say for sure that he would have locked down the No. 2 spot on the depth chart next year.

For FSU as it stands, Francois is the future. That future is very bright.

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