The NCAA football betting expectations are running high for the Florida State Seminoles, who will begin the 2016 season ranked #4 in the preseason Coaches Poll. This is their second-highest ranking since head coach Jimbo Fisher assumed the reins of the FSU football program in 2010. Not too bad for a team of which we do not know who will be starting under center on September 5th versus Ole Miss at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. For what it’s worth, Fisher himself may not know that quite yet, either. Which is not to say that the 2013 Rawlings Football College Coach of the Year is grasping at straws.
On the contrary, you can bet college football teams with the Seminoles’ depth do not abound. It’s not a matter so much of who to start, but not to start – and it’s not an easy choice, which is why Fisher will most likely play his cards close to his chest until the regular season is almost upon us. But let’s take a closer look at the alternatives, for the benefit of NCAA football betting fans.
Sean Maguire. The redshirt senior threw for 1,520 yards with 11 touchdowns and six interceptions, completed 59.3% of his passes, and averaged 190.0 yards per game in 2015, finishing the season with a pass efficiency rating of 139.67 in eight games, five of which he started. In addition to all of that, Maguire was named to the watch list for the 2016 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, given to the country’s top college quarterback on the basis of their character, citizenship, scholastic achievement, leadership qualities and athletic accomplishments. What more could you want in the face of your team.
Deondre Francois. The country’s top running quarterback, Florida’s No. 14 player and the country’s 39th-best prospect in the 2015 recruiting class according to Rivals.com, and the No. 3 dual-threat QB in the nation, the 10th-best player in Florida, and the 42nd-best overall prospect in the nation by ESPN, Francois is a consensus four-star prospect and was considered the best quarterback in the 2015 Under Armour All-America Game. Redshirted the 2015 season.
J.J. Cosentino. A backup who appeared in three games and whose achievements are not so much about quantity as they are about quality. For instance, Cosentino engineered a 13-play, 66-yard drive that covered 6:12 (the third-longest drive of the season in terms of time) in the third quarter that resulted in a Colton Plante two-yard touchdown run versus Chattanooga.
Malik Henry. One of the top prospects in the Seminoles’ 2016 recruiting class, Henry is a four-star recruit who threw for 1,410 yards, 16 touchdowns and just one interception over seven games during his senior year at Long Beach Poly in the fall of 2015.
As NCAA football betting fans can see, coach Fisher will not be sweating a lack, but rather a profusion of choices when it comes to naming a starting QB. And the same goes to replacing defensive back Jalen Ramsey, or placekicker Roberto Aguayo.
