Which Program Would Give Everett Golson Best Chance to Improve on NFL Skill Set?

Former Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson has one year of eligibility left to show he's an NFL quarterback. If he wants NFL training, his best option is to go to college football's current NFL factory. 

That would be a team he nearly beat a year ago: Florida State. 

According to 247Sports' Ryan Bartow, "Florida State is seen as the eventual destination" for Golson, who released a statement last week announcing he would transfer from Notre Dame. "Barring a last-minute change of heart or any influence from elsewhere, [Florida State’s] where he’s headed," a source told Bartow. 

That report was corroborated by Keith Arnold of NBC Sports, but it's not clear yet if FSU reciprocates the interest: 

If Golson does end up transferring to Florida State, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better situation if he wants to end up in the NFL—which, of course, sums up pretty much everyone at this level. This goes for any program, regardless of whether Golson is eligible to transfer there or not (the SEC, for example, has a graduate transfer restriction that would be a roadblock). 

The first—and maybe only—thing to look at is the track record Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher has of putting quarterbacks into the NFL. These players aren't just getting drafted, either; they've been first-round selections. 

In the past 10 years, Fisher has coached four quarterbacks who went on to become first-round picks:

Name	School	Year	Selection
JaMarcus Russell	LSU	2007	Oakland (No. 1 overall)
Christian Ponder	Florida State	2011	Minnesota (No. 12 overall)
EJ Manuel	Florida State	2013	Buffalo (No. 16 overall)
Jameis Winston	Florida State	2015	Tampa Bay (No. 1 overall)

Say what you will about the NFL careers of those picks to date—Jameis Winston excluded; his pro career is only beginning, and he's easily the best prospect of any of the four—but Fisher gets his players drafted high and paid handsomely. That's part of his job. What happens after that is no longer under his control. 

If you're Golson, how do you look at that and not come away impressed? He's not transferring to switch positions. He could have done that at Notre Dame. Golson has one year of eligibility left to prove he's worth taking as a quarterback in the 2016 draft. This decision has a lot of weight behind it. 

Mike McCarn/Associated Press

There will be challenges if Golson does transfer to Florida State. All the quarterbacks listed above were multiyear starters who fit the prototypical NFL passer mold. The current front-runner to succeed Winston, Sean Maguire, is cut from the similar physical cloth as well. 

Golson is on the smaller side (he's listed at 6'0" and 200 pounds), but that's never going to change for him. For Golson, it's about controlling what he can control. 

Could Golson learn a more NFL-friendly playbook in a few months time and make the necessary reads/decisions quickly? Can he improve dramatically on the ball-security issues that plagued him a year ago? Can he come in to the locker room as a new face, develop chemistry and be viewed as a leader quickly? 

Despite his shaky spring game last month, Maguire is still viewed as the favorite to start in Week 1, because he has that experience. 

Those are NFL problems rookie quarterbacks face, too. Right now, you're not going to find a better spot to train them than Florida State. And Golson's history at Notre Dame suggests he would be up for the occasion. 

Golson won the starting job as a redshirt freshman in 2012 and helped lead the Irish to a national championship appearance against Alabama. He missed the '13 season because of academic, but spent that time working with quarterback guru George Whitfield. Golson returned in '14 and had one of the more prolific passing seasons in Notre Dame history. 

It might be the most ridiculous qualifying statement uttered in a while, but when Golson wasn't turning the ball over, he looked like a completely different passer from 2012-14; a much better one. He has ability but hasn't been able to consistently use it.

Fisher's job would be to get that consistency out of Golson. If there's a head coach/quarterback guru who can get the most out of his signal-callers and prepare them for the NFL, it's Fisher. 

None of this is to say that Golson will win the starting job at Florida State or anywhere else. He would have to beat Maguire in preseason camp first before we have that discussion. But if Golson is looking for a place where he could start and get an NFL crash course at the same time, the Seminoles seem like a great fit.  

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