Florida State’s Washington provides versatility on OL
While much of the attention on an offense in football falls on the quarterback or the other skill positions, every play begins with one player.
The center. The position that holds the most important job on an offense, according to redshirt senior offensive lineman Darius Washington.
Washington stepped in for usual starter Maurice Smith at the position for Florida State against Southern Miss after Smith was ruled out due to a lower leg injury.
"The play can't start without the snap," Washington said of the importance of the center. "So if you don't know how to snap, you're not going to play center at all."
Washington again could be in a similar role if Smith is held out of the ACC opener for No. 3 FSU (2-0) against Boston College (1-1) at noon Saturday in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. (Broadcast: ABC).
He had just 20 career snaps heading into last Saturday played at center. The biggest adjustment for him has been to get ready to snap the ball.
"I'm still getting comfortable with it because snapping the ball is is the most important part of playing offense," Washington said often. "If you don't snap the ball will have a good snap, you can mess up the whole play, a whole drive, the whole game.
"With me, it just took a year, just working on snap, stepping and then learning the offense. Because you can snap the ball, but if you don't know the offense, it's going to be hard to go out there and operate."
Washington provides versatility
Washington played all 56 snaps he appeared on Saturday at center, according to Pro Football Focus. He played eight snaps at right tackle against LSU in the season opener.
Coming into the season, Washington has played live snaps at every position except left guard. He played 20 snaps at center, 1,127 snaps at left tackle, 35 at right guard and 661 at right tackle.
Washington even has 13 snaps lined up at tight end.
"It really just takes preparation," Washington said of being able to play all the spots on the offensive line. "The more you study for it, the more you will be able to pick up on stuff. Then when we are out here practicing, being able to move around is probably a good thing for me to practice because it helps me just get the reps at that position.
"It may not be an in-game, but still you're getting that practice. So whenever you do have to get in the game and do that position, then it won't be as hard to kind of shift into it."
Against the Golden Eagles, Washington graded out with a 61.6 overall PFF offensive grade, 55.8 pass blocking grade and 61.7 run block grade.
Washington allowed just two quarterback hurries at center, snapping the ball to and protecting Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback Jordan Travis.
"I thought Darius Washington, I just can't say enough about him. He's remarkable," head coach Mike Norvell said Monday at his weekly press conference.
"He could literally play all five positions. To go in there at center, he managed the game well. Like I said, it wasn't a perfect game, but he really did a good job of going in there and making a positive impact."
Game information
AP No. 3 FSU (2-0) at Boston College (1-1)
Saturday, Sept. 16, noon.; Alumni Stadium, Chestnut Hill, Mass.
ABC www.Tallahassee.com; @Ehsan_Kassim on Twitter; @JackGWilliams on Twitter; @JimHenryTALLY on Twitter
Wet ball responsibility
With limited live in-game snaps at center, as Washington said, there are some things he still needs to learn while playing.
Offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Alex Atkins talked about it Monday during the weekly press conference.
"Darius has been our Swiss Army Knife. We can plug him in wherever we need to go," Atkins said. [He] got in there at center, had one [snap] where we got on him because his hand was wet, and I said ‘Well that's your responsibility to keep your hand dry.'
"It was like an epiphany moment like ‘Oh yeah, you're right.' Put a towel on and he was fine after that. Little things like that, but I'm very comfortable with Darius playing all five positions. And he gives us a little security blanket because he can go in there and do it at a high level.”
Washington, if he is thrust into the center position again needs to be ready for a wet ball.
The Seminoles-Eagles game could have wet, windy weather with Hurricane Lee potentially looming over the Eastern Coast of the United States this weekend.
"Making sure I keep my hands dry," Washington said of what he learned to do. "I'll say that's probably the biggest thing is making sure I keep my hands dry.
Because when I'm on the field trying to snap the ball, [I realized], 'Oh snap. This isn't going to be good,' because I tried to feel for my towel, but I didn't have it. I realized, 'Yeah, I am going to get yelled at.'"
Reach Ehsan Kassim at ekassim@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Ehsan_Kassim. You can also follow our coverage on Facebook (NoleSports) and Instagram (tlhnolesports).