Should Florida State Be Worried About Its Quarterback Situation in 2016?

Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher has developed a reputation as a quarterback whisperer, and rightly so. No other coach in college football today has earned his quarterbacks more first-round draft money than Fisher.

The Seminoles have taken a noticeable step backward at quarterback in 2015, however. In fact, the entire offense—save for running back Dalvin Cook—has regressed.

Perhaps that should have been expected. This was supposed to be a rebuilding year, and a player like former quarterback Jameis Winston comes around only so often.

It's easy for fans to be spoiled by Winston and see this year as a disappointment by comparison. Sean Maguire and Everett Golson bring different elements to the offense, but neither has taken off in the system.

Brendan Sonnone of the Orlando Sentinel reported that Maguire is the locker room leader, which isn't surprising considering he—not Golson—is the longtime program guy. But by no means is he the cemented starter for the rest of the year.

And if he is, Fisher isn't letting anyone know.

Following the 23-13 loss to Clemson in Week 10, in which Maguire threw for 164 yards and a pick, Fisher said Maguire was "solid." Tomahawk Nation's Bud Elliott did the rest of the deciphering:

Maguire will be presumably be back in 2016. Golson, a graduate student, will not. But is Maguire a lock to start in 2016? If he does start, does that say more about his growth or Florida State's overall depth/experience problems at the quarterback position?

Let's put it this way: Though Maguire exited last spring as the front-runner to start, he should be in an open competition to stay there this spring.

The lack of a sure-fire starter is definitely concerning, but it doesn't have to be debilitating.

“I’m always reevaluating things," Fisher said last month, via Corey Clark of the Tallahassee Democrat.

Richard Shiro/Associated Press

Who's capable of unseating Maguire? Let's start by identifying who's on the roster today.

Behind Maguire are freshmen Deondre Francois and J.J. Cosentino. Cosentino has a red shirt while Francois is earning his. Cosentino has attempted three passes this year, completing two for six yards. Obviously, experience is lacking.

However, Safid Deen of the Tallahassee Democrat reported that prize recruit Malik Henry—a 4-star pro-style quarterback recruit, according to 247Sports—was still planning to enroll in January as of last month. 

Henry has bounced around at the high school level, so there are some academic things he'd need to take care of if he were to enroll early, but overall things between Florida State and Henry appear to be in good standing.

Henry is the wild card in all this. Fisher is a demanding coach for his quarterbacks and the offense isn't a simple one. Not many players can jump in even as a redshirt freshman and have everything mastered like Winston did.

Even though Henry could enroll early, there's a lot he'd have to learn and execute right away to leapfrog players like Francois, Cosentino and Maguire.

That's not adding in all the weight room work he'd have to put in as well.

In short, Henry would have to be a special player to start right away in 2016. But he will have a shot to compete.

Whoever starts should have a more experienced offense around him. The importance of that cannot be overstated. So many starters for Florida State in 2015 are freshmen and sophomores—on both sides of the ball, too.

One area where inexperience has showed up is along the offensive line. With a full season under its belt, the O-line should theoretically be better in 2016. Many, if not all, of the skill players should be back as well.

Quarterback play is important, but those are other areas that can make or break an offense. It's tough for a quarterback to play well if his jersey's dirty or wide receivers are dropping contested—or even uncontested—passes.

As Ira Schoffel of Warchant.com tweeted, Maguire has the arm to go vertical. He usually hasn't had the time to do so:

On the flip side, though, a quarterback has to play well when he's given time to throw. We have seen Florida State truly push the ball downfield on few occasions, the most recent of which came against Syracuse. Otherwise, the passing game largely consists of screens and short-to-intermediate stuff.

Long-term, Florida State will be just fine. Talent and coaching aren't the problems. Right now, experience is, and the only way to rectify that is to let things play out.

It's too early to know for sure if Maguire will be the starting quarterback in 2016. What we do know is the Seminoles offense should be much better. That lessens the anxiety of an otherwise uncertain situation.

Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All quotes cited unless obtained firsthand.