Corey Clark: Breaking down the first Florida State depth chart of the year

There are some things to be learned from the first 2024 release of the Florida State depth chart.

Not everything, of course.

There are names on that thing that won’t see the field in Ireland, and might not see the field for meaningful snaps this year. There are others that don’t show up at all on the initial depth chart (most notably some big-time freshmen on the offensive side of the ball) that end up playing a vital role for the Seminoles.

So, let’s not take what is written in black and white on Sunday as actual black and white. There is a lot of gray as well when it comes to these season-opening depth charts.

Still, they are far from meaningless. They say quite a bit.

And with that in mind, here are some quick observations on what I noticed in the first Florida State depth chart of 2024.

First off, all the battles we’ve been watching closely this preseason? Well, we’ll all find out who won those things on Saturday, I guess!

Nickel? We get an “OR” for Kevin Knowles and Earl Little. I think both will play a lot of snaps for the Seminoles, but we don’t know the actual starter yet.

Linebacker? We get another “OR” for Blake Nichelson and Cam Riley, while senior DJ Lundy is the only established starter. It wouldn’t be a surprise if either Nichelson or Riley won the starting job, and as with the nickel corners, both of these guys will most certainly play a ton. I’m fairly certain Justin Cryer and Omar Graham Jr. will play a lot as well.

Florida State linebacker and Auburn transfer Cam Riley (18) prepares for a drill during preseason practice. (Ben Spicer/Warchant)

Then there is safety. Which, to me, is the most up-in-the-air position still on this two-deep. Obviously, Shyheim Brown is going to start. The other safety, though? Literally no idea. Some of these other “ORs,” including the right guard spot on the offensive line, I have a pretty good guess.

This spot in the secondary, though, is a battle that might last into the actual season.

And I think we could see the same thing happening at right tackle between Jeremiah Byers and Robert Scott.

But overall, when you look at this depth chart, it’s just about exactly what we expected to see after watching practices this preseason.

One slight surprise, in my mind, might be Jalen Brown being listed as a starter at one of the receiver spots. Figured he’d be an “OR.” But he’s there, in bold, as the starter.

Personally, and this is just one bald man’s opinion, I think there’s a very good shot that Kentron Poitier plays more in Ireland and might just play more this season — especially if he continues to build upon what he did last week in practice.

I also think it’s telling that true freshmen Kam Davis and Lawayne McCoy are on this depth chart for their first college football games.

I DO think they’ll play this season. And they might play a lot. Though, again, I’d be surprised if they get a lot of meaningful snaps in a season opener against a competitive team like Georgia Tech.

Otherwise, one more observation I wanted to make, that I think is important when you see it in black and white like this: Out of the 28 potential starters on the Florida State two-deep, 17 of them are seniors. And 12 of those are FIFTH-year seniors.

That’s a really, really experienced depth chart.

And out of the 28 potential starters, 22 of them are in their FOURTH year of college football; 26 of them are starting their third year at least. Only Brown and Nichelson are in Year 2.

This might be one of the oldest, most experienced depth charts in the country. It has to be.

We knew it was a mature football team, but when you see it laid out like this, you realize just how much experience (and talent! That’s important, too!) this program has on its roster heading into the 2024 season.

And I can’t wait to see what changes — if anything — on this weekly depth chart as the season wears on.

Which of the players not currently on this two-deep shows up first? Which of these young, unproven guys rises up the depth chart over the next three months?

It’s gonna be fun to watch.

Florida State returns to the practice field on Monday morning.

Contact senior writer Corey Clark at corey@warchant.com.

Talk about this story with other die-hard Florida State football fans on the Tribal Council.

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