FSU’s approach to quarterback a major gamble in pivotal year

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New Florida State GM of player personnel John Garrett made it clear in his opening press conference that he feels the way most people have traditionally about the quarterback position.

“Quarterback is is obviously the most important position in all of sports,” Garrett said on Monday.

And yet, Florida State offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn’s first two quarterback transfers with the Seminoles — Tommy Castellanos last offseason and Ashton Daniels (not yet announced by the school but heavily reported and confirmed by the quarterback on Instagram) this offseason — and really Malzahn’s track record as a whole say otherwise.

Malzahn seems to have a certain belief that he can Moneyball the quarterback position a bit, prioritizing athleticism over pure passing due to his offensive scheme in order to focus resources elsewhere.

Who can blame him for feeling this way when he went to a national championship as Auburn’s head coach with a converted defensive back, Nick Marshall, at quarterback?

The results in 2025 with Castellanos were mixed.

Believe it or not, the quarterback was actually FSU’s highest-graded offensive player this past season at 85.5, according to Pro Football Focus.

He hit quite a few deep shots in the passing game — having Duce Robinson certainly made that easier — and we saw the athleticism early in the season before it wavered somewhat as he appeared to be playing at less than 100% after picking up an injury vs. Kent State.

Castellanos certainly isn’t the main reason Florida State was 5-7 and missed a bowl for the second straight season. And yet, it’s clear he also wasn’t the total fix-all that the offense needed after a dreadful 2024 showing.

With Daniels likely to be officially announced in the coming days, it would appear the Seminoles are running a similar plan back in 2026, this time with an even less prolific passer.

Daniels, who spent three years at Stanford before playing this past season at Auburn, has 24 career touchdown passes to 22 interceptions and a career 60.2 completion percentage.

In four games this past season in relief of Jackson Arnold, he completed 57.1% of his passes for 797 yards, three touchdowns and two picks.

Now, the dual-threat upside is there, in some ways even more than Castellanos. He’s much bigger at 6-foot-2, 219 pounds, theoretically making him more durable and not reliant on just elusiveness, although he does have that in his bag.

Over four seasons, Daniels has rushed for 1,401 yards and 11 touchdowns. There’s a strong case to be made that this will be the best, most creative offense he’s ever played in after three seasons at Stanford and one in Hugh Freeze’s outdated offense at Auburn.

But that’s a pretty big bet on a season that is going to determine the coaching staff’s future in Tallahassee. Especially when the Seminoles hosted and apparently decided not to pay Anthony Colandrea and DJ Lagway, who seemed like more sure things than Daniels.

Now, it’s quite likely Daniels will cost less than those two, who likely each would have commanded a sizable portion of the roster budget.

But that only matters if the money saved is being used elsewhere, perhaps on defensive line upgrades, a standout linebacker or retention of a few key players testing the portal waters right now.

If it’s just money being saved because the funds are lower than expected, that’s not a great sign for the 2026 Seminoles.

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