FSU tight end room looking to elevate in 2026

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Florida State’s tight end room has gotten a bit lost in the offensive shuffle in the lead-up to the 2026 season.

The wide receiver room helmed by Duce Robinson and Micahi Danzy and the running back loaded with potential and talent have taken much of the positive buzz, while the quarterback room and a once-more-replenished offensive line unit have been the position groups that have drawn more skepticism.

That has left the tight end room as a bit of an afterthought, something that can happen to that position as a whole when thinking about teams.

But don’t tell that to FSU tight ends coach Chris Thomsen, who is now the only assistant to be on staff for Mike Norvell’s entire tenure in Tallahassee.

“Really, really athletic group, guys that do a lot of different things,” Thomsen said after Friday’s practice. “ … In reality, most of the group has enough versatility to do all the things, whether it’s attached, whether it’s in the backfield, out in the slot. That always helps you when you’re trying to mix and match.”

The tight end room right now is an intriguing mix of returning players and new faces.

Most notably among the returners is junior Landen Thomas, a promising big recruiting flip for Norvell from Georgia who hasn’t yet reached his potential.

He was immediately impactful as a true freshman in 2024, ranking fifth on the team with 173 receiving yards and a touchdown on 14 catches.

In 2025, though, his production cratered. He played in all 12 games but had just three catches for 35 yards. Two of them were touchdowns but it was still a stunning drop-off, at least in part due to the addition of UCF transfer Randy Pittman Jr., who is now at SMU.

As Thomas enters a critical third season in the program, Thomsen praised the tight end for increasing his commitment to all of the off-field things that can make you a better player.

“He’s already done the thing I wanted him to do: just stay healthy. The last couple summers, he’s had a couple of things that have, before camp, held him back from being ready for camp. Players have to learn how to take care of their bodies,” Thomsen said. “ … He’s made a commitment, a bigger commitment than ever to his diet, to his sleep, to doing the different things at a higher level so that he went all the way through the offseason process healthy.”

“I just felt that it helps me move better than what I previously have been doing,” Thomas added. “My first two years, I wasn’t taking none of that serious to be honest, like what I ate and what I do outside of football. But this year, I feel like I had to take that more serious so I could be better as a player. That’s why I feel like that was the main goal for me really going into this summer is to be better than what I been.”

The other major piece in the room is ECU transfer Desirrio Riles. The Jacksonville (Fla.) native exploded onto the scene last season for the Pirates as a redshirt sophomore, catching 28 passes for 362 yards and two touchdowns.

“I would say my speed and being able to attack the safety’s leverage, just outrun them with my speed, my ability and my big body,” Riles said when asked to evaluate his strengths as a player.

The film Thomsen studied when scouting Riles as a potential portal target focused on what Riles did against Power Four competition, and the coach liked what he saw.

“He did really well in those games. He was physical against the teams he was playing, blocked well,” Thomsen said. “He has the ability to run some routes out in space that some tight ends don’t have. He’s got some really good top-end speed that’ll get him down the seams and on some (crossing routes). All those things that Coach Norvell likes to do, I saw and believed that he can do well. Everything I’ve seen to this point has just affirmed that.”

Thomas has been impressed by what he’s seen from Riles this offseason as a complementary tight end.

“I like the way Desirrio attacks his routes like the second level and stuff like that,” Thomas said. “How he can get open stuff like that. I like how he attacks every day.”

The good news for both of them — and others in the room like redshirt freshman Chase Loftin and true freshman Corbyn Fordham — is that the return to Norvell’s offense should lead to more 12 and 13 personnel (two and three tight ends on the field at once, respectively) and chances galore for more players in the unit to find success.

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