As the offseason comes rapidly to a close for Florida State, Head Coach Willie Taggart officially named QB Deondre Francois the starting quarterback for game 1 against #19 Virginia Tech. I have to say that I’m kind of surprised by this move, being that I thought that the other quarterback, James Blackman, should’ve been named starter. To me, James Blackman is a better overall player, however I guess Taggart didn’t see it that way.
Taggart announced earlier today that “Deondre Francois will be our quarterback”.
Francois threw for 20 touchdowns in 2016 but was injured in Florida State’s first game, which was against Alabama, forcing him to miss the rest of the season.
James Blackman threw for 19 touchdowns and 11 interceptions last season and led Florida State to a victory in their bowl game against Southern Miss 42-13, throwing 4 touchdowns and no interceptions. While I think that Taggart should’ve named Blackman the starting quarterback or at least let the quarterback battle last into the season before making a decision, I also can understand why Taggart picked Francois.
1. Blackman had four straight games throwing interceptions, in the first 3 of them he throw 2 interceptions.
2. Francois had played well the previous year and didn’t get to prove what he could do this year.
Here are the reasons why I thought Blackman was the better chose.
1. James Blackman showed many signs of improvement during the bowl game against Southern Miss.
2. Deondre Francois didn’t play well against Alabama when he had the chance to prove himself.
3. Francois was part of the reason why Florida State lost to Lousiville in 2016 63-20, putting Florida State out of playoff contention.
4. The final reason is that, to me, Blackman gives Florida State a better chance to win. Let me just sum it up like this. Had Blackman been the quarterback against Louisville in 2016, they wouldn’t have lost by 43 points.
