Photo courtesy of Florida State athletics
For Florida State, the college football season has finally come to a close.
FSU finished the season with a less-than-stellar 5-7 record. However, the final record is a good sign amongst the FSU hopeful.
Head coach Mike Norvell’s second year at Florida State started with four straight losses. The Seminoles battled back against a difficult back half of the schedule and won five of their last eight games.
Let’s take a look at Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded players who contributed to the season comeback. PFF enacts a 15-snap minimum per game for grades, so this list excludes players with less than 180 snaps.
In what will be a 2-part series, we begin with the offense:
5. Darius Washington, T (66.3)
Darius Washington has been perhaps Florida State’s most consistent lineman. After being thrust into duty as a true freshman in 2019, Washington has built on that experience and continued producing.
The redshirt freshman posted a 74.7 pass block grade and a 61.2 in run blocking. With another offseason in Josh Storm’s strength and conditioning program, Washington will continue to improve.
4. Robert Scott Jr., T (66.8)
Given FSU’s offensive line struggles in the past five years or so, especially at tackle, it may come as a surprise to see two offensive tackles near the top of this list. Offensive line coach Alex Atkins has flexed his coaching skills and built a solid foundation for the future of the position.
Opposite Darius Washington is fellow redshirt freshman Robert Scott, Jr. Scott is another promising young lineman who will produce for FSU for years to come. The young tackle has a pass block grade of 64 and a run block grade of 64.3. It’s important to note that Scott played through an injury for a good chunk of the season, so these grades are that much more impressive.
3. Jashaun Corbin, RB (75.2)
Texas A&M transfer Jashaun Corbin has had a breakout second year with the Seminoles. Despite being in tandem with fellow running back Treshaun Ward, Corbin finished the year with seven rushing touchdowns and 887 yards on 143 attempts, averaging 6.2 yards per carry. He also added 25 receptions for 144 yards and a score through the air.
Corbin showed a knack for finding open space, as nearly 20% of his rushing attempts went for 10 yards or more. It seems likely that he will contemplate declaring for the NFL Draft, but that decision remains to be made.
2. Treshaun Ward, RB (84.3)
Treshaun Ward has been one of FSU’s most consistent offensive weapons. The “Walk-On Wonder” has excellent patience and vision. He keeps churning his feet until a hole opens, then showcases excellent shiftiness in open space.
Ward took his 81 carries for 515 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 6.4 yards per carry. He holds the highest run grade on the team at 84.8, and just north of 25% of his carries went for greater than 10 yards. The shifty back has also assisted in receiving, posting 185 yards and a score on 21 receptions.
1. Jordan Travis, QB (86.6)
Quarterback Jordan Travis has really improved as a signal caller this season. He finished the year tallying 1,539 passing yards with 15 touchdowns and six interceptions at a completion rate of nearly 63%. The redshirt sophomore was a prolific runner as well, adding 530 yards and seven scores on 134 carries.
The most impressive statistic is Travis’ improvement as a quarterback year-by-year. His first extensive action came in 2020, which resulted in an offensive grade of 69.7 and a passer rating of 55.1. With a full offseason learning Norvell’s offense and working on his passing game, Travis finished 2021 with an offensive grade of 86.6 and a passer rating of 84.1.