Corey Clark: Three burning questions about Florida State heading into ACC media days

Starting on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m., the ACC Kickoff event will officially, ahem, kick off with the Commissioner’s Forum at the downtown Westin hotel in Charlotte.

After Jim Phillips is done answering questions about realignment and revenue sharing and, you know, the absurd amount of hazing that was apparently going on at Northwestern when he was the athletic director there, then the ACC’s teams will be made available to the media members in attendance.

The way it is structured is: Each team is represented by three players and the head coach.

On Tuesday, four teams will be made available to the media. Then, on Wednesday and Thursday, five teams will be made available. Florida State, which will be represented by Jordan Travis, Jared Verse and Kalen DeLoach, will be on stage on Wednesday.

Miami will speak on Tuesday. Clemson will be there on Thursday. And you probably don’t care about many of the other teams.

So, with that in mind, let’s explore some burning Florida State questions we have heading into the 2023 ACC Kickoff event.

1. Will Florida State be picked first?

This one is going to be close.

I think it’s a natural human instinct to want change. And the media members who have been going to this event as long as us old fogies at Warchant have are probably tired of picking Clemson every year. I mean, in fairness, if you picked Clemson to win the ACC each of the last eight preseasons, you’d have a batting average of .875. So, not too shabby. But still, this seems like the first time in a long time that there is a serious non-COVID-year challenger to the throne.

And, with that in mind, I think Florida State will get more preseason votes than anyone not named Clemson since 2015. But I still think, even with the expectations and the hype surrounding FSU, even with all the returning talent and the influx of portal starters, and the fact that Clemson struggled by its lofty standards a year ago and will be breaking in a new quarterback, well, I still think Clemson will be picked to win the conference.

When it’s all said and done, I believe a majority of media members will remember the Clemson-FSU game from a season ago, and also look at the fact that the game this year will be played in Death Valley, and pick the Tigers yet again.

The beauty, from a Florida State standpoint, is that it doesn’t matter. At all. Preseason predictions are just predictions. Not stone tablets. There’s a pretty good chance the two teams will play twice this season anyway. And, finally, FSU feels like a real contender to win this conference again. No matter how many media types actually pick the Seminoles to win the league in Charlotte, everyone there knows they have a real chance.

2. Will Jordan Travis be the Preseason Player of the Year?

Same sentiment as the last question, really.

I think it will be close.

But the fact that the majority of the members voting on this thing live in North Carolina, and the fact that North Carolina itself has a pretty good quarterback in Drake Maye — many analysts believe he’ll be a Top 5 pick in next year’s NFL Draft — I would be surprised if the redshirt senior from FSU gets chosen as the Player of the Year.

Will Shipley, the dynamic running back from Clemson, deserves some serious consideration, too. That kid is great. And for long stretches a season ago, he was the only real offense the Tigers had.

I think Travis will get plenty of votes too, but in the end, I think Maye will get more. And as much as I love the Jordan Travis story — and as good as I think he is (and I think he’s sensational) — I can’t say anybody will be too upset with Maye being chosen.

If ACC Kickoff was held in Jacksonville instead of Charlotte, I would guess Travis would have a much better shot of being chosen. But guess what? It ain’t! So, congrats to Drake Maye.

It’s going to be fascinating to see who wins the real award in December.

3. How many FSU players will be on the preseason All-ACC team?

If we’re focusing on the first-team All-ACC squad, I’m guessing five.

I think receiver Johnny Wilson will be there. So will running back Trey Benson. And defensive end Jared Verse. I think those three are no-brainers. I also think cornerback Fentrell Cypress will be on the team as well. After all, he’s a returning All-ACC performer; he’s just on a different team now.

That fifth one though … I’m not sure who it will be. I think Florida State cornerback Renardo Green should get consideration, but he won’t. He wasn’t even third-team a year ago — he was honorable mention — and he didn’t have any interceptions. So, with no real wow stats, and another FSU corner already on the team, I doubt he’ll get near enough votes.

Maybe Keon Coleman? He certainly could be one of the two or three best receivers in the conference, but he’s new to the league and I’m not sure how dialed in most media members in the ACC are to transfer wideouts from Michigan State.

Defensive lineman Fabien Lovett has a chance. He has been here a long time, and he’s proven to be an impact player. He’s actually been to ACC Kickoff before. He’s a known commodity. But he’s coming off a season in which he didn’t do a whole lot because of injury. Again, we’ll see how much the North Carolina media pays attention to returning defensive tackles without great stats.

Maybe Jaheim Bell? He certainly should get consideration. He figures to be one of the best, most diverse tight ends in the country. And lord knows the North Carolina media should remember him — he had two 60-plus yard touchdowns against the Tar Heels in a bowl game while he was at South Carolina — but we’ll see how many votes he gets.

And then there’s the offensive line. I absolutely think FSU should have a lineman on the first team. But who? We’re not even sure who will be starting at each position, so it might be hard to vote for these experienced Seminoles up front.

I would guess Robert Scott will get some love, and Maurice Smith and D’Mitri Emmanuel should too, but will it be enough to get on that first team? Especially since it’s not a stone-cold lock any of those guys will start?

I guess we’ll see! But out of all those options, I think one will be chosen and FSU will end up with five guys on the preseason All-ACC team. And no, I don’t think Travis will be on it. Even though he’s one of the best players in the country.

Contact senior writer Corey Clark at corey@warchant.com and follow @Corey_Clark on Twitter.

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

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