Florida State’s offseason bet on Quintrevion Wisner is starting to look shaky at fall camp.
The former Texas running back arrived as a major portal addition for Mike Norvell and general manager John Garrett, but with Wisner sidelined by injury and two other backs flashing in camp, the Seminoles suddenly look crowded in the backfield. Ousmane Kromah and Samuel Singleton Jr. were already back in the room, and both have apparently made strong cases while Wisner has been stuck on the sideline.
Wisner missed FSU’s second straight fall camp scrimmage, and the explanation remains the same: something minor. Offensive coordinator Tim Harris Jr. used that phrase last week, and Norvell sounded on Sunday night like the senior could be back soon. Still, the missed reps matter, especially at a point in camp when roles start to sharpen.
That absence has only sharpened the spotlight on what Wisner actually brings. He’s the kind of back coaches usually trust because he does a little bit of everything.
He can handle third-down work, catch the ball cleanly, and hold up in pass protection. Give him early-down carries and he’ll usually make the proper read, take what’s there, and squeeze out a little extra.
That’s valuable. It also may be exactly why his path to a big workload is murkier than it looked when he first arrived.
If Kromah really has taken the next step, as the camp buzz suggests, then Wisner’s versatility could become less of a feature and more of a problem. Kromah has the size to handle a workhorse role, and new running backs coach Kam Martin has already said he plans to ride the hot hand. If Kromah keeps rolling, it’s not hard to see him staying in the lead role.
Then there’s Singleton, who has made the most of Wisner’s missed time. Norvell said Sunday night that Singleton “had a big run,” and that fits with what he showed last season.
He averaged 7.1 yards per carry and produced 54% of his 360 rushing yards on seven carries of 15+ yards, according to PFF. That kind of burst is hard to ignore, especially in an offense that figures to give Kromah a heavy share of the touches and could also ask quarterback Ashton Daniels to run the ball anywhere from 5-15 times a game.
Norvell has done the multi-back thing before. At Memphis, he leaned on 21-personnel and made it work in a big way.
But even that comparison comes with a catch. In the 2018 season, Darrell Henderson Jr. rushed for 1,909 yards, Patrick Taylor Jr. added 1,122, Tony Pollard chipped in 552, and quarterback Brady White finished with -43 rushing yards.
That last number matters here because Daniels is not White. FSU needs Daniels to run enough to maximize his game, which makes the backfield math trickier. Even if the Seminoles lean hard into the run and hit 50 carries a game, there may simply not be more than 10 attempts left for Wisner.
He can still be useful in a smaller role. The bigger question is whether the money spent on him was the right place to make that swing.
Right now, it looks questionable. Once Wisner gets back on the field, though, that picture could change fast.
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Ashton Daniels still gave the staff a few reasons to feel steady at quarterback, with Norvell pointing to his efficiency and leadership even on a night when the unit as a whole was uneven. Now the focus shifts from scrimmage feedback to the harder part of camp, with position battles and the depth chart set to clarify which players have done enough to move from evaluation mode into defined roles. [Read more 🡒]