For those outside the program, there\u2019s not much confidence surrounding the immediate future of Florida State football entering this offseason.<\/p>\n
The Seminoles are a combined 7-18 since they were snubbed from the 2023 College Football Playoff. The once-immaculate vibes are a distant memory at this point after the last two seasons.<\/p>\n
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But Duce Robinson could have enough confidence for everyone to make up the difference.<\/p>\n
Robinson was one of the few unabashed bright spots of the 2024 season. The FSU legacy and former five-star recruit transferred in from USC and realized his potential and then some with an ACC-leading 1,081 receiving yards in the regular season along with six touchdowns to become Mike Norvell\u2019s first 1,000-yard receiver of his FSU tenure.<\/p>\n
He was a first-team All-ACC wideout and a third-team All-American according to Phil Steele. And considering his pairing of 6-foot-6 height and impressive speed, he could be headed to the 2026 NFL Draft if he desired, potentially as a first-round pick.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s not leaving, though. Even when few outside the program believe in Norvell, Robinson does. He wants his time at the school he grew up dreaming of playing for to end with a better result.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI just believe,\u201d Robinson told reporters this week of his decision to return for his senior season in 2026. \u201cI believe in Florida State. I believe in what Coach Norvell is doing. I believe in a lot of the coaches he brought in, a lot of the players he brought in, and I believe in the guys that we have returning. And so I think we have the opportunity to do something really special.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t want to leave having the season we had last year. It felt unfair to the fans. Because they\u2019ve given me so much. So, I just want to try to give them something in return.\u201d<\/p>\n
Upon announcing his decision to return Jan. 1, Robinson became quite a recruiting tool for the Seminoles. Quarterbacks will want to throw to him, offensive linemen will want to block for him and running backs will want to benefit from having such a big-play-threat receiver in the offense.<\/p>\n
Robinson immediately struck up a tremendous relationship with former FSU QB Tommy Castellanos, who also transferred into the program last offseason and was roommates with Robinson.<\/p>\n
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Now, it seems likely either Stanford\/Auburn quarterback transfer Ashton Daniels or rising redshirt freshman Kevin Sperry will helm the offense in 2026 and get the opportunity to throw passes to Robinson.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve actually known Ashton for a while,\u201d Robinson said of Daniels. \u201cSince back when he was at Stanford. And he\u2019s always been an incredible person. I didn\u2019t really talk with him about much on the field, at least until we were recruiting him, but I\u2019ve always known he\u2019s someone who I get along with. He\u2019s someone who\u2019s easy to talk to, and just being able to actually talk about stuff with him on the field and ball, he seems really knowledgeable. He seems like he\u2019s a really good leader and I\u2019m really excited to have him be a part of the team.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for Sperry, who Robinson got to see in practice and limited game action last season, he said, \u201cI think Kevin Sperry is an absolute baller,\u201d Robinson said. \u201cHe\u2019s a guy who can make every throw. He\u2019s super athletic, and he\u2019s really just all about ball. And I got to know him pretty well last year. So, I\u2019m excited to see what he\u2019s going to do this year, because I think he has all the potential in the world.<\/p>\n
Robinson is also high on the receiver room the Seminoles will bring into 2026. If Micahi Danzy returns for another football season \u2014 at least a minor question with the 2028 Olympics getting ever closer for the world-class sprinter \u2014 FSU would also bring back a player who averaged 21.2 yards per catch, which led all Power-Four players.<\/p>\n
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Add in Jayvan Boggs returning after an injury-hindered freshman season and six incoming freshmen (three of whom were four-star recruits) and you can at least somewhat see what Robinson does in terms of receiver talent on the 2026 squad.<\/p>\n
The last thing on anyone\u2019s minds right now when it comes to Florida State football is envisioning being in contention for a national title. And yet, Robinson is so staunch in his belief that he\u2019s manifesting it over a year out from next season\u2019s national title game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came back so next year, at this time, we\u2019re still playing,\u201d Robinson said. \u201cThat\u2019s the ultimate goal.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For those outside the program, there\u2019s not much confidence surrounding the immediate future of Florida State football entering…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123644,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[54210,10241,17771,3691,3603,46433,17774,4976,57891,6376,6815,232,234,233,11058],"class_list":["post-123643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-ashton-daniels","tag-college-football-playoff","tag-duce-robinson","tag-florida-state-football","tag-fsu","tag-kevin-sperry","tag-micahi-danzy","tag-mike-norvell","tag-phil-steele","tag-seminoles","tag-stanford","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news","tag-tommy-castellanos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123643\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}