Florida State still hasn’t settled on where Nate Pabst will line up when the Seminoles visit No. 10 Alabama, and Pabst says he’s preparing for either answer.
After last week’s reshuffling against No. 16 SMU, the right guard-turned-right tackle is still in a holding pattern. Florida State offensive coordinator Tim Harris Jr. had already framed the move as a team-first adjustment rather than a permanent judgment on Chimdia Nwaiwu, and Pabst’s status suggests that approach is still very much alive.
For now, Pabst is doing the work at both spots.
“I’m getting ready for both,” Pabst said on Tuesday. “I’ve been repping both right now, and that’s what I did today, and we’ll see what happens going forward.
Just doing a little extra after practice, a little extra film watching, understanding what to do at other positions. So right now I will see, but my mindset is that I want to play both.”
The shift wasn’t exactly foreign territory. Pabst spent the first 101 snaps of the season at guard, outside of a kneel-down sequence in Week 0 against New Mexico State and a failed fourth-down try against SMU that moved him over in a jumbo look. Then in Week 1, he finished his last 33 snaps at right tackle.
That side of the line is familiar to him. He played most of his time there last season at Bowling Green and has logged more than 180 snaps at both tackle and guard over the course of his career. Even so, he knows the adjustment comes with real detail work, especially in pass protection.
“The major difference isn't really the run game - the major difference is in pass protection,” he said. “The inside three are gonna set the depth of the pocket.
The tackles are gonna have to set the width of the pocket, so you just have a difference in your set and technique there. When you do kick out from guard to tackle, that's gonna be the main thing”
“You see guys in the NFL, maybe, have to rotate over to guard or tackle - that's the main culprit where you see when guys get in trouble because they get used to their guard set, and then when they kind of are halfway between guard and tackle when they get out there,” Pabst added. “So a big focal point for me is just to make sure I'm keyed in on the differences in those sets.”
That kind of precision will matter a lot against Alabama. Florida State is about to see the toughest defense it has faced so far, and Pabst pointed directly to projected first-round edge rusher Yhonzae Pierre, who led the Crimson Tide with eight sacks last year.
“His speed to power is really good,” Pabst said of Pierre. “He's got long arms, and in the run game, he can set the edge.
So you've just got to be ready in your sets. He's gonna try to pull through you, and he does have his speed to threaten you too.
He's a great athlete, and we're gonna have to be prepared for him.”
The potential for Pabst to stay outside has also given Paul Bowling a larger role. Bowling had been pushing André Otto for a starting job at left guard in camp, and he already came in with plenty of experience after starting 12 games between center and guard as a freshman last season at Troy.
His outing against SMU had both sides to it. Bowling gave up a sack on a bull rush when Ashton Daniels stepped up into the pocket during his 13 pass-blocking snaps, but he looked steadier in the run game, handling 20 run-blocking snaps as Florida State scored touchdowns on two of its next four drives before the game ended.
Pabst liked what he saw.
“Came in and he was ready,” Pabst said of Bowling. “It wasn't something where he had to get warmed up for it, which is nice.
When you come in, you're kind of trying to protect this guy a little bit, but he was ready to go on that first snap. So it's been nice having him next to me because I feel secure.
I feel solid, and if that's the path going forward, I'm okay with it.”
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