FSU's depth-chart changes mean more than Mike Norvell is letting on
By: Curt Weller - The OsceolaMike Norvell admitted Monday he doesn't put much stock into the depth chart Florida State shares publicly each week.
There's certainly a hidden depth chart the staff keeps behind closed doors, which the FSU head coach does care about.
But as far as the depth chart FSU shares publicly each Monday to begin game weeks, it's something schools do more out of obligation and the unwritten rule that every team shares one than actual information sharing.
"I really don't care about a depth chart to be honest with you. It really means nothing..." Norvell said. "It doesn't really matter what I put on a depth chart."
That may be true to a degree. But there are a few changes to FSU's new depth chart, which was shared Monday afternoon before Saturday's (7 p.m. on ESPN) home game vs. Clemson that show Norvell was well aware that a few optics-based shifts had to be made this week.
Most notably, there's a change at the top of the depth chart. After DJ Uiagalelei suffered a hand injury on his final play of Saturday's 42-16 loss at SMU, the Oregon State transfer is now listed as a co-starter at quarterback alongside redshirt freshman Brock Glenn.
"DJ, something we're going to evaluate throughout the course of the week. Kind of see where it goes from there," Norvell said Monday of Uiagalelei's availability this week.
Uiagalelei has struggled in his first five starts with the Seminoles, completing a career-worst 53.8% of his passes with two more interceptions (6) than he has passing touchdowns (4).
Norvell has fielded questions for a few weeks now on if he's considering a change at quarterback. Each time, he's deferred to saying that the problems go far beyond Uiagalelei and that the rest of the players around him need to help him out more.
While Norvell dodged a question Monday asking if this depth chart change was only due to the uncertainty of Uiagalelei's status or if he may have named them co-starters even if Uiagalelei was healthy, naming them co-starters instead of simply listing as Uiagalelei as the starter as FSU has for the first five weeks of the season — even if he won't be able to start Saturday — seems to indicate at least some awareness of Uiagalelei's struggles.
"There's a lot of things that we go back and look at in the game, DJ did make a lot of good throws throughout the course of the game. Some good decisions, he made some poor decisions and a couple bad throws," Norvell said. "But you've got to surround and you've got to help the quarterback position. I don't think we've done a good job of that consistently and, at the end of the day, we all have to have ownership in that."
Glenn made his season debut late in the SMU game. While it happened after Uiagalelei's hand injury on his third interception, Norvell has said that he was planning on making the change at that moment anyways with the game out of hand.
Glenn failed to complete any of his four pass attempts, one of which was a great pass that was dropped and another of which was an overthrow to an open receiver which likely would have been a touchdown.
"I wanted to see that opportunity for Brock to go in and have a chance to execute," Norvell said. "I thought he did some good things. Had a nice throw that we didn't finish on. I thought he did miss one of the vertical shots that was a touchdown play. But overall operation of what he was asked to do was good. It wasn't shocking to me."
There were a few other offensive changes to the depth chart this week, which certainly appear to be performance-based. Most notably at tight end.
While few players have helped Uiagalelei this season, no one may have hurt him more than tight end Kyle Morlock. The senior added his team-high fourth drop according to Pro Football Focus early in the second half Saturday. And this wasn't just any drop. It was a pass that went through his hands, hit his facemask and popped into the air where it was intercepted by SMU and returned into the FSU red zone.
A drive that began with a chance for FSU to take the lead instead quickly allowed SMU to extend its lead. That coming on the shoulders of a continued underwhelming effort from Morlock — expected to be one of the key contributors in FSU's passing game — makes it that much tougher to swallow.
"That's a position where we have to be better. I've got confidence and belief in Kyle, I do, and you look a year ago, you look for percentage of opportunities and targets and catches and guys making the play, he was as good as anybody we had," Norvell said Monday. "This year, there's been some struggles. There's been some tough moments. That (interception) was obviously a huge play in the game and you know there's nobody more disappointed than Kyle. But right now, it still comes down to production, to execution, and so the doors of opportunity are there. Guys have to take advantage of that."
On the updated depth chart, Morlock is now listed as one of three starters at tight end alongside junior Brian Courtney and true freshman Landen Thomas.
Courtney made his first career start vs. Memphis and has appeared in 31 games on offense and special teams over the last three seasons while not yet recording a catch in a game. Thomas' first career catch was a 20-yard touchdown in Saturday's loss at SMU.
"Obviously really happy for Landen to be able to get that first touchdown," Norvell said. "You can go through the game and there's still some things that he's going to have to take some great strides in to continue to be what I know he's capable of. But that position has to go and get better."
The other position change of note came on the offensive line, more specifically at the guard spots. Norvell shared Monday that Florida transfer lineman Richie Leonard IV is done for the year due to injury after appearing in the first four games and missing Saturday's loss.
With that news, there's a real shuffle on the offensive line depth chart. After redshirt junior Bryson Estes and redshirt freshman Andre' Otto each got some playing time during the second half of Saturday's loss (26 and 8 snaps, respectively), they are now listed as co-starters on the depth chart.
Estes is a co-starter at left guard alongside second-year Auburn transfer Keiondre Jones while Otto is a co-starter with Alabama transfer TJ Ferguson at right guard.
Norvell didn't pull punches when evaluating the performances of those units during his Monday press conference.
"Our guard play has not been as good as it needs to be. That's the reality of it..." Norvell said. "Those guys are going to push for opportunity and we've got to go get better."
These changes on the depth chart may not be reflective of changes on the actual depth chart. It's entirely possible some or all of the aforementioned veterans keep starting Saturday vs. Clemson.
But regardless of that, this feels like a step in the youth movement direction that the FSU fan base has been waiting weeks to see.
