Florida State running back Roydell Williams will be unavailable for Florida State for the near future, the team announced Monday.
Head coach Mike Norvell confirmed the news during his weekly press conference, saying that the transfer will “be out for probably an extended period…we have to continue to evaluate what that looks like.”
“It’s unfortunate for him, but it does open up an opportunity for some of the younger guys.”
As Florida State’s offense has struggled, so has Williams — he has just 54 yards on 20 carries this season, as well as a fumble on the second play of the Memphis game that set the tone for the rest of the matchup.
Freshman running back Kam Davis is listed as the starter in this week’s projected depth chart for the Seminoles’ matchup vs. SMU.
Florida State will have to win its first game of the 2024 season without multiple starters. Injuries are already beginning to grow for the Seminoles during the early portion of a disappointing campaign.
According to a Florida State spokesperson, senior running back Roydell Williams and redshirt senior offensive tackle Robert Scott have been ruled out of the Saturday night matchup against Cal.
Williams started in each of the first three games and wasn’t among the players that head coach Mike Norvell mentioned as dealing with an injury during the week. Scott has started at both of the tackle positions in the last two games while stepping into the lineup due to the absence of Jeremiah Byers and Darius Washington.
This is a disappointing revelation for an FSU offense already struggling to find any success on the ground. The Seminoles are only averaging 2.2 yards per attempt and 52 rushing yards per game – which ranks second to last in the country.
Williams does lead Florida State with two rushing touchdowns but he’s averaged just 2.7 yards per attempt in his 20 carries which equates to 54 yards. The 2.7 YPC is about half of what Williams averaged last year (5.0 YPC) at Alabama.
Outside of Williams and Scott, the Seminoles have already ruled out redshirt senior offensive tackle Jeremiah Byers for the third straight game. Byers is dealing with a leg injury but seems to be progressing in the right direction. Senior linebacker Cam Riley is a game-time decision after going down in the first half last week.
There is some good news for Florida State as redshirt senior offensive tackle Darius Washington, redshirt junior safety Shyheim Brown, and redshirt freshman Jalen Brown will all be back in action. Brown didn’t suit up last week while Washington went down in pregame warmups and Brown was injured early in the loss.
Without Williams, the Seminoles will probably lean on redshirt senior Lawrance Toafili, redshirt senior Caziah Holmes, and true freshman Kam Davis. It’s also possible that redshirt freshman Samuel Singleton and true freshman Micahi Danzy see the field with Jaylin Lucas out for the year.
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