For defending national champion Florida State, the beginning of its title defense is less than a month away. The Amway Coaches Poll has the Seminoles ranked preseason #1 and FSU has been picked by many to make a repeat run at the national title. While it’s way too early to give great speculation on what’s to come this season, here are five bold predictions for the Seminoles in 2014:
1. O’Leary Will Win the Mackey
After finishing with over 550 yards receiving, averaging better than 19 yards-per-catch and scoring seven touchdowns in 2013, senior Nick O’Leary has emerged as one of the nation’s premier tight ends and maybe the best ever to play the position for Florida State. O’Leary enters the 2014 season on the Mackey Award watch list and has a very good chance to win the award. With the exception of Rashad Greene, O’Leary is one of Florida State’s more experienced pass-catchers and should be targeted more often this upcoming season. While O’Leary may already be the best FSU tight end ever, don’t be surprised if he enjoys the best season ever for a Florida State tight end beginning in late August.
2. Freshmen Will Again Have a Huge Impact
While quarterback Jameis Winston and kicker Roberto Aguayo each won major awards last season, Jalen Ramsey and Nate Andrews also each made enormous contributions as freshmen in 2013. Those four guys will become sophomores in 2014, but Florida State could get an even bigger impact from freshmen this season. The Seminoles lose two of their top three leading rushers and receivers and will be expected to use newcomers like Dalvin Cook, Ermon Lane and Travis Rudolph among others to fill those voids. On defense, five of Florida State’s top seven or eight linebackers could be freshmen.
3. Defense Will Struggle Early
There is no shortage of talent at virtually any position for Florida State, but the Seminoles are extremely young on defense. FSU loses five starters on that side of the ball including a pair of All-Americans. It is also unlikely that Florida State will start a senior and with games against Clemson and Oklahoma State coming in the first month, it is entirely possible that FSU will have its struggles on defense early. Florida State likely won’t be dreadful on that side of the ball, but picking up where the 2013 team finished off won’t be easy. As talented as the Seminoles are defensively, there may be something of a learning curve and it may not be until October that the Florida State defense finally finds its identity and gets a set rotation.
4. An Unlikely Foe Will Challenge FSU
Though Florida State essentially breezed through its regular season schedule in 2013, a late September visit to a Boston College team that finished just 2-10 the previous year put an early scare into the Seminoles. While Florida State won by a 48-34 margin, FSU trailed 17-3 early and never led until the final play of the first half. Florida State was able to get up for the big games, beating four ranked opponents by an average margin of more than 41 points. With a beefed up slate in 2014, don’t be surprised if Florida State gets some push-back from a squad that it’ll easily be expected to beat again this season.
5. FSU Will Have a Heisman Finalist Not Named Winston
Last season, Jameis Winston became the third Seminole and just second-ever freshman to win the Heisman Trophy. Although Winston is expected by many to make a repeat run at the trophy, he may not be the only Florida State player to make the trip to New York. With Karlos Williams set to get the lion’s share of the carries this year while running behind an offensive line that returns four starters, the former safety could have a huge year. With Kenny Shaw and Kelvin Benjamin both gone, senior wide receiver Rashad Greene could be an even more popular target as he looks to become FSU’s all-time leading receiver. Both Greene and Williams have also made an impact before in the return game. With all the talent that Florida State has on defense, particularly in the secondary, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see someone from that side of the ball receive Heisman consideration also.
