By Patrick Burnham
You can make the argument that no other position group on FSU’s 2025 team will have a bigger impact on how this season ultimately plays out from a win-loss perspective than that of the offensive line. The poor play of this unit a season ago was one of the many reasons the Seminoles walked away from the 2024 season with the program’s worst record since the early 1970s.
The good news is that FSU should be improved up front for a variety of reasons. First, it would be hard to believe FSU could be worse than the offensive line was in 2024 where the Seminoles ranked 129th (out of 134 FBS teams) in rushing offense, 132nd in sacks allowed and 125th in TFLs allowed. Second, FSU brought in offensive line coach Herb Hand from UCF to take over for Alex Atkins, who was let go toward the end of last season. And third, and maybe most importantly, Hand and Norvell brought in four offensive linemen via the transfer portal in January who are expected to be Day One starters after starting for their previous schools in 2024.
FSU brought in guard Adrian Medley (UCF), center Luke Petitbon (Wake Forest) and tackles Gunnar Hansen (Vanderbilt) and Micah Pettus (Ole Miss) via the portal this winter, and all four are expected to open camp as starters. Combined they played over 3,165 snaps last season with none of the four playing fewer than 763 snaps from scrimmage last year. Bringing that type of experience should expedite the improvement of this position group. After all, FSU’s most experienced returning offensive lineman from last year’s team is Jacob Rizy, who logged just over 300 snaps from scrimmage a season ago.
The post-spring departures of TJ Ferguson and Jaylen Early, who would have been FSU’s most experienced offensive linemen from last year’s team, has created opportunities for several young players to compete for a spot in the two-deep and playing time this fall.
We believe heading into fall camp that Hansen (LT), Pettus (RT) and Petitbon (C) are locked in at those positions. And while Medley and Richie Leonard are expected to line up with the first team to start camp they could face some stiff competition from several young players, including Andre Otto and Vanderbilt transfer Josh Raymond. It is also possible you could see Tye Hylton or Jonathan Daniels move inside to compete at guard.
Simply put, FSU needs to be a lot better than it was on the offensive line a season ago and we would be surprised if it wasn’t.
The Osceola’s preseason position preview series begins with a look at the offensive line.
2025 Pre-season Offensive Line Depth Chart
Left Tackle: Redshirt senior Gunnar Hansen (6-5, 330), Redshirt sophomore Lucas Simmons (6-8, 308), Redshirt freshman Jonathan Daniels (6-4, 290), Freshman Chastan Brown (6-8, 265)
Left Guard: Redshirt senior Adrian Medley (6-5, 300), Redshirt freshman Jayden Todd (6-6, 324), Freshman Ja’Elyne Matthews (6-6, 344)
Center: Redshirt senior Luke Petitbon (6-2, 295), Redshirt senior Jacob Rizy (6-5, 308), Redshirt senior Bryson Estes (6-3, 285), Freshman Chavez Thompson
Right Guard: Redshirt senior Richie Leonard (6-2, 331), Redshirt sophomore Andre Otto (6-5, 325), Redshirt freshman Josh Raymond (6-4, 300)
Right Tackle: Redshirt senior Micah Pettus (6-7, 350), Redshirt freshman Tye Hylton (6-5, 292), Redshirt freshman Manasse Itete (6-5, 300), Freshman Mario Nash Jr. (6-4, 280)
Offensive Line Snap Counts, Grades for 2024
Adrian Medley (UCF): 815 snaps from scrimmage, 12 pressures allowed on 378 pass blocking snaps, 66.2 run blocking grade
Luke Petitbon (Wake Forest): 808 snaps from scrimmage, 6 pressures allowed on 467 pass blocking plays, 68.3 run blocking grade
Gunnar Hansen (Vanderbilt): 779 snaps from scrimmage, 15 pressures allowed on 432 pass blocking snaps, 58.1 run blocking grade
Micah Pettus (Ole Miss): 763 snaps from scrimmage, 15 pressures allowed on 425 pass blocking snaps, 72.7 run blocking grade
Jacob Rizy: 311 snaps from scrimmage, 7 pressures allowed on 188 pass blocking plays, 71.3 run blocking grade
Richie Leonard: 230 snaps from scrimmage, 5 pressures allowed on 148 pass blocking plays, 61.9 run blocking grade
Andre Otto: 202 snaps from scrimmage, 8 pressures allowed on 131 pass blocking plays, 53.9 run blocking grade
Bryson Estes: 28 plays from scrimmage, 1 pressure allowed on 18 pass blocking plays, 69.2 run blocking grade
Lucas Simmons: 3 plays from scrimmage
Jonathan Daniels: 1 play from scrimmage
Additions and Departures
Post-spring departures: TJ Ferguson (Syracuse), Jaylen Early (Missouri)
Post-spring additions (Portal): Ja’Elyne Matthews (Rutgers), Josh Raymond (Vanderbilt)
Post-spring additions (High School Signees): Chastan Brown, Chavez Thompson, Sean Poret
On the Rise
We usually answer this with the name of an individual player but there is so much improvement to be made from a season ago and this position group works in tandem so much, I am going with the whole group.
Yes, FSU brought in four players who started at their previous schools and that is huge. And, yes, the Seminoles should benefit from the return of Richie Leonard at guard after he saw action in two games last season. However, Hand will need to develop depth, and there is very little proven depth on this roster, and possibly two or more guys who can push for playing time, in order for this unit to play to its potential and I think as a group we will see improvement from this unit as a whole.
Biggest Questions
FSU should be improved on the offensive line, especially if its starters remain healthy. So the biggest question to me heading into camp is which players will develop into either dependable backups (particularly at the two tackle spots) and/or who have shown enough improvement to compete for a starting role or regular playing time?
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