Will Xavier Lee rot on the FSU bench? via
FSU backup Xavier Lee — a former Mr. Football in Florida as a high school senior — isn’t complaining about his role for the Seminoles this season, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have an opinion. Lee is letting his father do the talking, and… boy is he ever.
“I don’t have nothing against Drew Weatherford,” Willie Lee said this week, speaking about FSU’s starting quarterback. “He’s a great kid — he’s just been given more of an opportunity than Xavier has been given.
“I don’t understand what’s going on.”
…
His dad described him as “very, very sad,” after the UAB game.
“He’s just waiting,” Willie Lee said. “He knows he can do it, but he’s not worried about it for some reason.”
Lee’s father says that he had convinced XL to transfer to Bethune-Cookman during the offseason, where the elder Lee had played, but two hours with new Offensive Coordinator Jimbo Fisher convinced the Lees that XL would have a role in the FSU offense this season.
FSU coach Bobby Bowden says that he understands the elder Lee’s concerns.
When Bowden was told Tuesday of Willie Lee’s frustrations, the coach said, “Any parent would [complain]. Parents would naturally do it. But they’re not up here watching practice every day and seeing what the coaches see. You can’t blame the parents.”
But, after the Seminoles lackluster performance against Colorado, OC Jimbo Fisher indicated that things may be changing in the FSU lineup.
“That’s the most inept ridiculous demonstration of football I’ve been around in my life,” the offensive coordinator said. “If I’m an offensive player, I’m embarrassed to say I’m a part of this. We are going to find a way to fix it. We’re going to find 11 guys who want to do it. So starting Tuesday, when we get back, I promise you …”
Fisher’s mood was getting angrier. His voice was getting louder. For weeks he has given his offense some rope, citing its youth and preaching patience.
Now he was ready to hang his players.
“We’re going to find out who wants to play football next week,” he said. “Everything’s always open. The best players … if they ain’t performing, we’ll find somebody who does. We’re going to find 11 football players who actually want to play, I promise you.”
So does that meet Xavier Lee might get another shot at starting for the Seminoles?
“The quarterback gets all the glory and all the blame, just like the coaches do,” Fisher said. “It’s all part of it and it all starts with him and works its way down. I mean it is everybody.”
In an interview posted on Monday, Fisher indicated to Warchant that Lee was getting the bulk of the snaps not going to Weatherford, although he did not want to tip his hand as to how Lee might be utilized going forward.
I feel for Xavier Lee, I really do. He set just about every QB record in the state of Florida while in high school, yet he has rarely seen anything beyond mop up duty while at Florida State. When he was given the chance to start, he was really, really solid. And the rest of the time, well, he’s just been riding the pine.
While I wouldn’t fault XL for leaving the Noles, as a redshirt junior, he really has very little opportunity left to make an impact elsewhere. So, for better or worse, Lee’s future is in the hands of Fisher, Bowden, Weatherford and… to some degree, Lee himself.
XL is not beating out Weatherford in practice, by all accounts, so there’s really no legitimate argument as to why he should see the field ahead of Weatherford as the “starter”, per se. But there’s no reason that FSU shouldn’t give Lee a 10-15 play package that utilizes his extraordinary talents as a game-changer… a la the way in which Meyer used Tebow’s unique talents to compliment Chris Leak last season at Florida.
It’s time to see XL on the field more, dadgummit.
Hat Tip: Fanblogs own Gatorhippy
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