Florida State held its final practice availability before Saturday's home game vs. Clemson (7 p.m. on ESPN) Wednesday morning.
It was a day of work the Seminoles seemed satisfied with. Mike Norvell said he thought it was much better than Tuesday and that the quarterbacks were faster and quicker in how they operated the offense. Defensive tackle Joshua Farmer said he thought it was one of FSU's best practices of the year so far.
Whether I would personally go that far or not, it was definitely an improved day of work with a better balance between offense and defense and some really nice playmaking. Here are the observations from Wednesday's practice:
It was a day of work the Seminoles seemed satisfied with. Mike Norvell said he thought it was much better than Tuesday and that the quarterbacks were faster and quicker in how they operated the offense. Defensive tackle Joshua Farmer said he thought it was one of FSU's best practices of the year so far.
Whether I would personally go that far or not, it was definitely an improved day of work with a better balance between offense and defense and some really nice playmaking. Here are the observations from Wednesday's practice:
- Brock Glenn got to run a one-minute drill during the first team period and found some success doing it. He moved the ball across midfield with a pass to Hykeem Williams and then converted a fourth and long on a pass to Lawayne McCoy, who made an impressive leaping catch over tight coverage. However, the drive stalled out and ended prematurely with a few seconds left on the clock with Marvin Jones Jr. knocked the ball out of his hand for a strip sack. Glenn made a few mistakes Wednesday, but I thought he always responded to them very well. Especially in 7-on-7 after missing a throw, he went on a nice run of reps where he found McCoy for a third-down conversion and then found Amaree Williams down the seam for a solid pickup of 20 or so yards.
- Speaking of McCoy, it was a nice day for FSU's freshman receivers. In addition to the aforementioned catches, McCoy made a great play in red-zone work, reaching behind his body and above his head to snag a one-handed pass on a slightly-off-target throw. Fellow freshman Elijah Moore also had a touchdown in this period, a perfectly thrown moonshot of a deep ball down the sideline from Luke Kromenhoek, who also had a touchdown run during goal-line work Wednesday morning. Another freshman wideout, BJ Gibson, had a nice touchdown catch in the back corner of the end zone in 1-on-1s.
- Kentron Poitier also had an impactful day with a touchdown in the corner of the end zone during 1-on-1s and a few third-down conversion catches during 7-on-7 pass skelly work.
- Jones Jr. added another sack during the middle 11-on-11 period. While his Cal success didn't translate over to the SMU game, he's continued to show flashes as a pass-rusher that could make more of an impact down the stretch of the season. Defensive tackle KJ Sampson also had a "sack" during this 11-on-11 period.
- Azareye'h Thomas maintained his playmaking ways at Wednesday's practice. He had an interception against the scout team, added a pass breakup during a good-on-good team period and was consistently in great position in coverage. Fentrell Cypress also had a pass breakup on a deep ball to Malik Benson in 1-on-1s and also had a physical tackle of Benson during a team period.
- Another DB who had a great day Wednesday was Charles Lester III. The true freshman had an interception in the end zone during goal-line work, put together some great 1-on-1 reps and also had a standout play during a perimeter blocking drill, blowing up a screen pass with a physical tackle. Fellow true freshman DB Ricky Knight II also had an interception during pass-skelly work which he returned for a "touchdown."
