Florida football's offseason has not been stellar, however, the same can be said about the Gators' rival to the north, Florida State.

In the last week FSU has seen one player, Xavier Peters, enter the transfer portal, and has received the news that the team's APR has dropped again from 941-936 - according to NCAA rules, thats six points away from not being eligible to participate in a championship.

This could have gone better off the field.

However, an argument can be made that on the field, the Noles have progressed and are on a better path.

The Quarterback Room

There was a point where FSU had a scenario where they would only have one scholarship quarterback in 2019. Taggart can now breathe a little easier.

James Blackman is the familiar name. The redshirt sophomore was expected to battle Deondre Francois for the starting job before Francois was dismissed from the team. Now with Francois' departure, Blackman is the frontrunner for the starting job, however, he does have some competition.

FSU welcomed three transfer quarterbacks this offseason: Alex Hornibrook from Wisconsin, Louisville transfer Jordan Travis and Wyatt Rector from Western Michigan.

Hornibrook is on campus after finishing his degree and will be eligible to play immediately; Travis, who did participate in spring practice, is still awaiting word from the NCAA about his request to play immediately; while Rector is set to come in as a walk-on, but will also need a waiver from the NCAA to play immediately.

FSU fans and media were able to see the battle between Blackman and Travis this spring, since they were the only two on campus at that time, and they both impressed in the spring game.

Blackman completed 23 of 37 passes for 415 yards and three touchdowns, while Travis completed 22 of 28 passes for 241 yards.

A Faster Paced Offense

FSU's offense was moving at a quicker clip this spring under new offensive coordinator Kendal Briles.

According to the spring game stats, the two teams ran 96 plays combined in the first half during the spring game back in April - often leaving 20 seconds on the play clock.

This pace will obviously be dependent on an offensive line that has a few question marks on it.

The group had a historically bad 2018 season, Pro Football Focus rated it the worst in the country. So things will need to change.

The first and second team lines gave up five sacks in the first half of the spring game and they did provide some holes for the run game to get going - and one should note that probable starters Landon Dickerson and Cole Minshew did not feature in the game.

Blackman and co will have some talented receivers to throw to. Tamorrion Terry finished with five catches for 77 yards and a touchdown in the spring game. He is expected to be the receiver to watch this fall. Meanwhile Keyshawn Helton has seven catches for 145 yards in the first half.

Redshirt freshmen receivers, Jordan Young and Warren Thompson also made progress this past spring.

The Defensive End Room Takes Another Hit

As mentioned above, FSU lost Peters to the transfer portal. This was another hit to a room that already lost leading pass-rusher Brian Burns to the NFL.

According to those at spring practice, Peters performed well in spring before being suspended from the team for 'undisclosed reasons.'

So who does FSU have at defensive end?

The Seminoles will return two with game time experiences: juniors Joshua Kaindoh and Janarius Robinson. After that Taggart and company will rely on a group of true freshmen, Quashon Fuller, Curtis Fann Jr, Malcolm Ray and Derrick McClendon, and veterans senior Josh Brown and junior Leonard Warner, who both switched positions.

Also of note, FSU did begin to implement a 3-4 defense this spring, which is why there were a few position changes on the defensive line noted above.

Although the Noles did experiment with a scheme change, or at least a part time scheme change, Taggart and company are not married to the idea as a permanent change. At least in the beginning, the team could show a blend of both 4-3 and 3-4.

Related Story: Whats Next for FSU?

Other Team Notes

- Freshman linebacker Jaleel McRae and freshman safety Akeem Dent both impressed this spring. McRae led the Garnet defense in the spring game with a team-high 11 tackles. Meanwhile Dent recorded eight tackles, three-pass breakups and a fumble recovery. They are both competing for starting roles.

- Redshirt freshman linebacker Amari Gainer had a game-high 13 tackles, a sack and a tackle for a loss at the star position.

- Marvin Wilson, however, was the best defensive performer of the spring. The defensive tackle got in the backfield quite often and finished the spring game with five tackles, two sacks and 2.5 tackles for a loss.With Robert Cooper and Cory Durden also inside, the interior of the defensive line so should be a strength this year for FSU.

- FSU running back Khalan Laborn dislocated his knee cap returning a kickoff during the Noles' game against Samford last season. Laborn participated in the spring game and had six carries for 30 yards in the first half.