Across his tenure at Florida State, Mike Norvell has continually failed to evaluate and develop high-end quarterback talent out of high school. That’s left him to constantly dip into the transfer portal to find answers at the position, and not just as QB1 but to fill out the rest of the room as well.
This season, Ashton Daniels arrived from Auburn to replace Tommy Castellanos, but Norvell and general manager John Garrett also found another veteran option in JuCo transfer Malachi Marshall. Despite arriving in the summer, Marshall is pushing second-year former three-star Kevin Sperry for the backup job, and according to Mike Norvell’s first game-week press conference, he’s cleared one of the two biggest hurdles to making the jump to the ACC.
Last season at Iowa Western, Marshall was listed at 6-foot-2, 170 pounds on the initial FSU roster; he is listed at 168 pounds, which is unplayably light in the Power 4. On Monday, Norvell told the assembled media in Tallahassee that Marshall has gained 18 pounds, presumably up to 186…