Miami loss is latest example of roster question mark for Florida State through five games that someone needs to answer quickly
FSU needs more beyond their offensive superstar.
The Florida State Seminoles have a tremendous talent in wide receiver Duce Robinson. The USC transfer has been the focal point of the FSU passing attack in 2025, and for good reason.
At 6’6″, 225 pounds, he’s an absolute freak of a player, with plus speed and gifted hands to go with an ideal outside frame. He’s built exactly like a starting NFL X receiver should be, and he’ll end up on an NFL roster in 2026 as a high draft pick.
Unfortunately, the rest of the wide receiver corps hasn’t proven to be nearly on that same level, and it’s beginning to cost the team as a result .
Miami focused on Robinson, and no other Florida State pass catcher could make them pay on Saturday until it was too late
Robinson finished with a pretty decent stat line against the Hurricanes. He had 6 catches for 87 yards. However, a good bit of that yardage came when Miami was up 28-3 in the second half, and the game was no longer in doubt. The Hurricanes did a nice job both pressuring Tommy Castellanos (42 pressures in 60 pass blocking snaps) and keeping Robinson well covered.
But that’s where Florida State needed a secondary passing option to emerge, and it hasn’t emerged – at least not in time. Micahi Danzy, FSU’s second leading receiver on the season with 9 catches for 197 yards, got started with a bang in FSU’s win against Alabama with a 32-yard run on a jet sweep reverse. He also broke long runs against East Texas A&M and Kent State. But in the passing game against Virginia and Miami, he totaled a combined 5 catches for 61 yards over the two games.
Lawayne McCoy, FSU’s third receiver in receiving yardage, added a touchdown during FSU’s 19-0 4th quarter run against Miami, but it was too little too late again there. And former Tennessee transfer Squirrel White has been a complete non-factor this season after a decent previous two years in Knoxville, with only 4 catches for 52 yards this season. FSU’s second leading receiver in receptions, TE Randy Pittman, Jr. with 11, had just 4 catches for 34 yards before compiling 7 against Miami with the game out of reach.
Florida State has a star to lean on in Robinson, and against some teams on their schedule, his talent will be enough to continue to lean on him to the exclusion of others. But if FSU is going to beat Clemson and if they happen to find themselves in Charlotte for the ACC title game, they undoubtedly have to have a second true downfield threat emerge in the passing game when they absolutely need it.
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