As FSU looks to rejuvenate its offense for 2025, more has changed than stayed the same. In comes new offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, who brings a new scheme that will be paired with as many as 9-10 new starters. Continuity is a great thing in college football, but after one of the worst seasons in program history, change is welcomed with open arms by Seminole faithful.
We already broke down what to expect from new OC Gus Malzahn and his scheme in part one of this series, which you can read here. With a general understanding of the new offense, we’ll turn our focus to the pieces that make it go as we break down the personnel by position group, starting with quarterback.
Florida State benefited from having Jordan Travis as a full-time field general in 2022 and 2023. Last season was nothing short of a disaster with a shuffling of options that produced no better results than their predecessor. With only Brock Glenn returning, FSU first and foremost needed bodies to fill the room. The coaching staff brought in former Boston College quarterback Tommy Castellanos to run the show.
Castellanos has had an up-and-down career, but the situation he walks into at FSU could set the 5’11, 201-pound senior up to have his best season to date. The Malzahn offense works best with a dual-threat quarterback at the helm — think Cam Newton, Nick Marshall, John Rhys Plumlee — so Tommy Castellanos’ unique skill set makes him a perfect fit for this offense. That is why Gus Malzahn recruited and signed him out of high school at UCF before he transferred to BC.
Now that the two are reunited in Tallahassee, they hope to reignite the magic of the Malzahn offense. Looking back to 2023 at Boston College, Castellanos was more of a running quarterback. He carried the ball over 200 times that season, putting up an astounding 1,113 yards and 13 rushing touchdowns. His passing left something to be desired with a sub-60% completion rate and 14 interceptions to only 15 touchdowns.
For the 2024 season, BC was under the direction of new head coach Bill O’Brien, whose NFL background brought a more pro-style offense that was not as friendly to Castellanos’s skill set. His rushing numbers fell off a cliff, but his passing saw significant improvement in multiple metrics. There was improvement in completion percentage, yards per attempt, touchdown to interception ratio, PFF Pass Grade, and passer rating. See the graphic below for a full stat comparison.
Another area that improved greatly was his downfield passing, which is important given Malzahn’s vertical passing concepts. As you’ll see from the graphic below, Castellanos saw a 15% improvement in mid-range (10-19 yards) passing completion percentage and nearly 10% on deep throws (20+ yards). To further drive home the improvement in his mid-range passing, he also had a 50-point increase in his PFF grade. His touchdown-to-interception ratio also improved in the mid-range and deep passing depths.
The short to mid-range passing improvement will be key in 2025, as historically, 58.5% of passes in Malzahn’s offense fall within this range. Castellanos’ passing improvement in 2024 puts him on par with what we saw from Jordan Travis in 2023, who led FSU to a 10-0 record before his injury.
Speaking of Jordan, there have been a lot of comparisons between the two as somewhat undersized dual-threat quarterbacks. Comparing them across a few key metrics shows that 2024 Tommy Castellanos most closely resembles 2021 Jordan Travis. Their stat line is even similar from those seasons.
Jordan Travis (9 games): 194 ATT (62.9%) – 1,539 YDS (7.9 YPA) – 15 TD – 6 INT
Tommy Castellanos (7.5 games): 161 ATT (61.5%) – 1,366 YDS (8.5 YPA) – 18 TD – 5 INT
Jordan moved into the full-time starter role in 2022 and took a massive step in the offseason. Hopefully, we’ll see Tommy take the same step, continuing his previous improvement as a passer. As closely as those two compare, I also wanted to make this comparison with a quarterback who played in Gus Malzahn’s offense, given the different usage of the position.
If we expect Tommy to be used more like he was in 2023, where the system fits him vs the other way around, 2023 John Rhys Plumlee is almost identical on the same chart. JRP’s passing that season is more on par with TC from 2024, but with the mobile aspect of 2023.
In 2023, JRP only played in 10 games, but if we project his numbers to account for the 2 he missed using his season averages (it’s not a perfect science, but it gives a general idea, and I used this to almost nail Jordan Travis’ stat line in 2022), here’s what we get.
307 ATT (62.9%) I 2,725 YDS (8.9 YPA) I 18 TD – 10 INT with 127 rush attempts for 606 yards and 6 touchdowns. I’d like to see more touchdowns and fewer interceptions; however, if Tommy has that kind of stat line at the end of the season, FSU will probably be in a good place offensively. I’ll share my projected stat line towards the end of the article.
As previously mentioned, the Malzahn system is an ideal fit for Castellanos. What I hope to see is a return to the rushing numbers from 2023 with the improved passing from 2024. It is very possible that it happens considering a few key factors. First, Tommy will be playing in a skill set friendly system under Gus Malzahn. The staff has stated that they don’t intend to rein in what makes him special, so they are going to let him run.
In 2023, when Castellanos used his legs heavily, he led the country in rush plays over 10 yards with 48 (includes running backs). He had the second-highest rushing total among quarterbacks behind only Heisman winner Jayden Daniels. Make no mistake, Castellanos has progressed as a passer, but what makes him special is his electric running ability. Historically, Malzahn’s quarterbacks average about 30-35% of the carries, which equate to around 12 per game. Castellanos’ career average is 14 carries per game, so I would expect to see somewhere around that number in 2025.
Second is the pieces around him. With all due respect to Boston College, their talent pool is not as deep as it is in Tallahassee. The Eagles ranked 14th of 17 teams in the 247 Talent Composite in 2024 and 9th of 14 teams in 2023. FSU consistently ranks in the top 3 to 4. More weapons mean the defense can’t place as much focus on Castellanos or any one player. This will free him up to use his natural ability and give him more targets to spread the ball around to. If defenses key on him, that means one less defender to key on the other players. It truly creates a pick your poison scenario for defenses.
Finally, one aspect that I learned at ACC media days that I feel will help Castellanos take that extra step is the offseason he’s had since being at FSU. In an interview with TC, he mentioned that for the first time in his career, he got to work with a private quarterback trainer.
His quarterback trainer is the same one that Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders use, so he also got to train with those guys. He mentioned how it has helped improve all aspects of his game, from leadership to fundamentals and preparation. This could be an underrated aspect of his offseason training that we see pay off in 2025.
As we move down the depth chart, we get to Brock Glenn, who is the assumed QB2 for this season. Glenn has left a lot to be desired on the field with a sub-50% career completion rate and more interceptions than touchdowns. However, he has been thrown into some truly unfair situations and asked to work miracles. I’m not ready to write him off yet, and we saw him earn the turquoise jersey in Tour of Duty for his standout performance.
However, what counts in football is what you put on the field, and frankly, it’s not been good enough. Hopefully, in the new system where mobility is a plus, Brock will be able to use his skill set to elevate his game. We’ve seen glimpses of what he can be, but he must put together those moments consistently. The positive is that FSU now has a relatively experienced backup with Brock more than doubling his previous experience. I could also see him potentially getting some packages to take advantage of his size and mobility at 6-foot-2, 225 pounds (think Tayson Hill with the Saints in the red zone).
Next on the list is Kevin Sperry, the highly touted freshman. We heard a lot from spring camp about his surprising athleticism, ability to push the ball down the field, and moxie for a freshman. If all these things are accurate, FSU may have found its quarterback of the future in the Malzahn offense. I’ve said before that he gives serious Baker Mayfield vibes.
However, his time is probably at least a year away. I expect him to get snaps this season, particularly early on against East Texas A&M and Kent State. The staff will probably try to retain his redshirt, so the action will be limited. Norvell did mention that he got a lot of work in the first scrimmage, with Brock Glenn being held out for an undisclosed precaution. Getting Sperry live game reps this year will be invaluable going forward.
While I don’t expect him to be a factor this season, FSU does have another option in relief with ETSU transfer Jaylen King. The 6-foot-4, 217-pound dual-threat’s passing has been well… not great, but he has started 17 games between ETSU and Gardner Webb. King has thrown 2,767 yards across both seasons and rushed for over 500 yards each year. But with a career completion rate of just 53.3% and 20 touchdowns to 19 interceptions, his pass game needs some polishing.
King planned to find somewhere to redshirt for a year, and FSU was the fit for those plans. Maybe he’ll factor in as a package player, the future, or be a scout team player, but he fits the Malzahn system, and Gus did take his 2013 team to a national championship with a converted DB at quarterback, so you never know. Norvell did mention that King got reps in their first fall scrimmage.
After a disastrous 2024, FSU’s quarterback situation feels much better for the upcoming season. Tommy Castellanos is a perfect fit for the new scheme, and Brock Glenn has more than doubled his game experience. Truth be told, this system is not dependent on having a prolific passer. It’s not going to ask Tommy Castellon or any other quarterback to throw the ball 40 times per game. Therefore, if FSU gets a solid but not stellar year from the position, it could still win some games.
For example, in 2013, when Auburn made their title game run under Gus, their passing stats that season (using three QBs) were 173/285 (60.9%), 2,422 yards, 20 TD – 8 INT in 14 games. That’s not asking a lot and something that I feel is very doable by Tommy Castellanos. The caveat to that is that those quarterbacks contributed 198 carries, 1,198 yards, and 12 touchdowns in the run game. Thankfully, we’ve already seen Castellanos put up those numbers in one less game at BC in 2023. This gets back to our desire to get Tommy Castellanos’s 2024 passing with his 2023 running.
This brings us to some offensive projections I’ve put together. These aren’t exactly science that can account for resting during garbage time or potential time missed due to injury (knock on wood). I put these numbers together based on past averages of the Gus Malzahn offense, Tommy Castellanos, and factoring in the defenses they’ll face. I also factor in what I’d like to see from a production standpoint to have a good season. Castellanos is probably the closest Malzahn has had to Nick Marshall since 2014, so I envision him being used similarly.
For Castellanos, I project around 210 pass yards per game (2,520 on the year) with 22 touchdowns. On the ground, I have him putting up around 75 yards per game (900 for the season) with 10 touchdowns on around 165 attempts. In total, that puts him at roughly 3,400 All-Purpose yards and 32 total touchdowns in the regular season. Honestly, if we get that type of season from him and that gets paired with a solid defense, FSU will be in good shape at the end of the year.
In 2022, I said that I’d like to see Jordan put up 3,500 yards and 30 total touchdowns using the same method, and he ended the season with 3,631 yards and 31 touchdowns. FSU won 10 games that year. I think that leads FSU to a season average of around 32 points per game.
Pair that with a Tony White defense, and FSU will be in a position to win games. During his time at UCF, Gus’s offense was never supported by a top 40 defense. Tony White has produced 3 top 40 defenses in the past 3 years at 2 different schools. If Tommy Castellanos can reignite the magic of the Gus Malzahn offense, FSU could be in business in 2025. Thanks for reading and Go Noles!
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