Today we're going to take a position-by-position look at the matchup, from a recruiting perspective. Both Miami and FSU recruit at a high level, but are the players on the roster playing up to their lofty recruiting rankings? Using the recruiting rankings from the 247Sports Composite, we'll break down the offensive depth chart today and tomorrow we'll do the same on the defensive side of the ball.
QUARTERBACK
FSU: Deondre Francois (4-star, 0.9678), James Blackman (3-star, .8823)
Miami: N'Kosi Perry (4-star, .9128), Malik Rosier (3-star, .8437)
There's a lot of unknowns with Miami's N'Kosi Perry who has only started one game for the Hurricanes. He won last week, but his passes were limited in their Thursday night win. However, on the FSU side of the depth chart it's clear that Deondre Francois has yet to live up to his lofty star ranking. Backup James Blackman played as a true freshman but has not seen the field in 2018. As a true freshman, Blackman played, well, like a true freshman would. Coming in as a three-star, Blackman was thrust into action after Francois went down in the Alabama season opener. Blackman was up and down throughout the season, but didn't get any help from his porous offensive line. On the other side of the ball, Malik Rosier's play was inconsistent as well. But Rosier did win 10 games for the Hurricanes last season. His inconsistencies carried into this season and ultimately led to his benching, in favor or Perry. We'll learn a lot about Perry this week in his first start in the FSU/Miami rivalry.
WIDE RECEIVER
FSU: Nyqwan Murray (3-star, .8575), D.J. Matthews (4-star, .9763), Tammorion Terry (3-star, .8883), Keith Gavin (4-star, .9470)
Miami: Ahmmon Richards (4-star, .9342), Lawrence Cager (3-star, .8895), Jeff Thomas (4-star, .9807), Darrell Langham (3-star, .8706)
Nyqwan Murray has been the playmaker for FSU this season. The senior receiver has played in the slot and the outside, he had a game winning catch last week against Louisville and has emerged as Francois’ go-to target. FSU still needs more production on the outside. Keith Gavin and Tamorrion Terry have flashed, but if FSU is going to beat Miami, they’re going to need one of those guys to step up and dominate. Miami’s Jeff Thomas has lived up to his billing out of high school. Thomas only has 13 catches on the season, but he’s a guy that teams need to game plan for each week. A lot was expected from Ahmmon Richards, but injuries have held him to just one catch this season and it's unlikely he'll play this weekend. If he misses the game last year's hero Darrell Langham will start in his spot. Langham only has 8 catches this season, but everyone remembers what he did to FSU last year when Miami beat FSU in Tallahassee.
TIGHT END
FSU: Tre' McKitty (3-star, .8816), Gabe Nabers (3-star, .8012)
Miami: Brevin Jordan (4-star, .9820), Will Mallory (4-star, .9183)
McKitty has settled in as a big time playmaker for Florida State this year. He's a much better fit in Taggart's Gulf Coast Offense compared to Jimbo Fisher's pro-style attack. McKitty has 15 catches and 2 touchdowns this season and is playing up to his three-star ranking thus far. McKitty looks to be on an upward trajectory and will likely out perform his high school ranking. Miami recruited two four-star tight ends last year in Brevin Jordan and Will Mallory. Jordan has made an instant impact, hauling in 13 catches and 3 touchdowns. Mallory has played but only has one catch so far. Both Jordan and Mallory have promising careers ahead of them.
