Landon Dickerson expected to miss week two

Florida State’s struggles along the offensive line over the years have been well documented. Those struggles haven’t gotten any easier despite a new system and new coaches.

The Seminoles offensive line failed to open up the running lanes against a young Virginia Tech defense and it showed on the scoreboard. They’re not having any injury luck either.

Starting right guard Cole Minshew missed the game against the Hokies with concussion symptoms. If he can’t go against Samford this Saturday, Mike Arnold will once again start in his place. Arnold, a redshirt sophomore, will need to continue working on his consistency.

Two more offensive linemen suffered injuries during the Labor Day matchup. Senior Derrick Kelly left the game with an injury. He was spotted entering the medical tent during the second half. Kelly has practiced during the week and should be in the starting five against the Bulldogs.

However, the big injury was suffered by arguably FSU’s most talented lineman, Landon Dickerson. The redshirt sophomore converted offensive tackle sprained his ankle during the loss and he’s expected to miss week two.

That’s a huge blow to a front-five that looked out of sync to begin 2018. It gets even scarier. The `Noles are switching up a lot on the offensive line prior to the game against Samford which could further affect their chemistry as a unit.

With Dickerson out of the lineup, Kelly has shifted to right tackle while Arnold or Minshew will man the right guard spot. Alec Eberle stays pat at center while Jauan Williams remains at left tackle. The big change is at left guard.

To recap, here’s FSU’s projected starting o-line against Samford:
LT — Jauan Williams
LG — Arthur Williams
C — Alec Eberle
RG — Mike Arnold
RT — Derrick Kelly II

Already two new faces and a position change just one week into the season.

— Tashan Reed (@tashanreed) September 6, 2018

Typically, we’d expect to see a veteran offensive lineman such as Abdul Bello or even Brady Scott get the start. Instead, the `Noles will rely on converted defensive tackle Arthur Williams.

The redshirt senior just recently moved to the offensive side of the ball during fall practice. It’ll be interesting to see just how much he’s learned since the position change.

All we know now is that all is not well along the offensive line. And that’s a big cause for concern that Florida State will need to figure out sooner rather than later.

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