FSU tight ends coach Chris Thomsen breaks down skills, improvement of players at his position

With preseason camp now officially behind them, the Florida State Seminoles eagerly await the final week of practice before opening the 2022 season against Duquesne on Saturday.

While most positions on the depth chart are fairly well settled, tight end is one where the Seminoles have been rotating a long list of candidates with the first- and second-team offense. That is partly because returning starter Camren McDonald was limited during part of preseason camp, and partly because the Seminoles have a number of players who have piqued the coaches’ interest.

Third-year Seminoles tight ends coach and deputy head coach Chris Thomsen spoke with reporters after Friday’s practice and had high praise for the competition among his segment.

“Just the whole group [is] highly motivated. Really wanting to absorb all the different elements that position brings,” Thomsen said. “Super high concentration level from every guy in the room on wanting to perfect all those things that we’re asking them to do.”

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Returning starter McDonald has over 20 receptions in each of the past two years, and he’s played in 45 games for FSU already in four seasons, with 20 starts. Thomsen said McDonald’s experience “is really invaluable.”

“Any time you’ve been out in that arena that many times and seen that many different looks, different things that happen to you in a game,” Thomsen said. “Then you’re a guy like he is that is willing to share that with the younger guys and help them grow. That’s an invaluable role.”

While McDonald has been penciled in as the starter since the end of last season, Thomsen has been happy with several other younger names behind him on the depth chart.

That starts with third-year Tennessee native Markeston Douglas, who has been a breakout performer during preseason practices.

“He’s taken huge steps in his understanding of the offense. The technical aspect of what he’s doing. He’s made a lot of progress with in-line blocking. With his size, that should be a strength of his and he’s worked hard to perfect that,” Thomsen said. “And he’s a guy who never really did that in high school. … Also the perimeter stuff, route running and all the things we’ve asked him to do there, he’s done really well.”

With unique physical tools at 6-foot-4 and 270 pounds, Douglas certainly seems like he’s emerging for FSU. He can use his big body to make plays in traffic, but he also has shown the ability to stretch the field at times.

“He’s got a lot of upside. He’s got size, he’s got good ball skills. He can run better than what you think he can when he hits the gas. He can run. He’s got a lot of tools to work with,” Thomsen said. “It’s just understanding the every day of how to come in the meeting room and how to practice. He’s done a great job with that, and because of that, he’s made good strides.”

Thomsen said Douglas and sophomore Jackson West, are “starting to absorb” everything the staff needs them to understand conceptually.

Wyatt Rector and Preston Daniel are two more players in the group who have proven they can be counted on in games. Rector has drawn praise from FSU head coach Mike Norvell for his performances in camp practices and a scrimmage, while Daniel flashed during Friday’s 11-on-11 in the final preseason session of camp.

Then there are the two true freshmen FSU added in the 2022 signing class — Brian Courtney and Jerrale Powers.

In his first preseason camp, the former high school quarterback Courtney has been tasked with learning blocking assignments and how to run routes like a college tight end. And Thomsen said the Virginia native is an extremely quick study.

“Whether it’s on the backline or on the perimeter, he’s having to absorb a lot of information and perfect a lot of different things,” Thomsen said. “He’s a very high-intelligence guy. Very, very smart. Very motivated to learn all that stuff, so he’s a really fun guy to coach in that way.”

Overall, Thomsen noted that FSU’s entire offense — including his tight ends — have a much deeper understanding of Norvell’s offense than they did in 2020 or ’21. And that’s just one of the reasons he is so excited for this 2022 campaign to kick off.

“It’s really the fun part,” Thomsen said. “It’s one thing if the defense presents a basic, normal look. But when they start to do all the things a defense does now, field and boundary pressures, coverages and disguises, and you see them start to get it and see it like you see it, that’s the fun part.”

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