Clemson Football: Q&A with FSU Experts previewing Tigers vs. ‘Noles

1. Obviously, losing Deondre Francois was a huge setback for FSU this year. How has James Blackman performed in your mind this year? Does he have a chance at the starting job in 2018?

Jason: To be honest, there isn’t much to be too mad about when it comes to the performance of a true freshman who was a three star recruit from South Florida who was playing high school football at this point a season ago.

The main positive, since you wouldn’t see it by the stats he is putting up, is the fact that he is improving with each game. Even in losses to N.C. State, Miami and Louisville, he was showing signs of growth each game, which is all you can ask at this point.

Of course, he is going to take a back seat to Francois when he makes his return to the team next season. But at least Blackman got valuable game experience for when he becomes the likely starter for the 2019 season.

Kelvin: Blackman is a talented kid that was thrown into a tough situation since he’s a true freshman that wasn’t an early enrollee. I think he has performed admirably aside from a couple of bad decisions that have resulted in turnovers.

He played well enough to beat NC State and Miami and FSU should have beat Louisville despite three turnovers. Nevertheless, I think he has a higher ceiling then Deondre Francois and is already more accurate which was a big issue for Francois last season. Francois still has a long road to recover from his injury, and Blackman very well may surpass him in 2018. I like Blackman a lot….that kid has a lot of dog in him.