Florida State football most important player countdown: No. 21
Curt WeilerThe countdown to the 2021 Florida State football season is underway.
The Seminoles enter the upcoming season, Mike Norvell's second atop the program, with plenty of questions.
During a pandemic-shortened season which limited the Seminoles to nine games in 2020, FSU finished with a 3-6 record. It was the program's worst record since FSU went 3-8 in 1975, the year before Bobby Bowden's arrival in Tallahassee.
Norvell and his staff inherited a roster that, by season's end, was the youngest in college football in terms of the percentage of underclassmen. To help counteract that, the Seminoles hit the transfer portal hard this offseason, bringing in 10 FBS transfers with plentiful experience.
Entering a critical second season atop the program coming off a much more regular offseason, Norvell will look to lead FSU to its first winning record since 2017.
Here's a countdown look at the Democrat's list of the 40 most important FSU players for the upcoming season, as compiled by beat writers Curt Weiler and Andre Fernandez, continuing today with No. 21.
Redshirt freshman offensive lineman Robert Scott
Scott wasn't an especially highly-regarded recruit coming out of high school.
He wasn't in the top 500 of the 2020 recruiting rankings and was ranked in the middle of FSU's 2020 signing class.
And yet, he made the biggest impact as a true freshman of anyone in the class this past season.
More:Florida State lineman raises money to bring fan with rare condition to season opener
As a true freshman at a position notoriously difficult to break into early in one's collegiate career, Scott instantly improved FSU's offensive line at right tackle.
From early in FSU's preseason camp, the coaches were talking up Scott as someone who looked ready for some action. When a few players were unavailable for the Jacksonville State game, Scott got this opportunity to start and he never gave up his spot.
The Conway, Ark. native appeared in eight games and started the final seven games of the season at right tackle for the Seminoles. Pro Football Focus graded his season out at 66.2. That was 180th out of 461 eligible offensive tackles and the second-best among FSU offensive linemen behind Devontay Love-Taylor.
In his first season at FSU, Scott looked like a piece to build around on an offensive line in desperate need of promising young players.
The question now will be how the Seminoles handle his second season. Bringing nearly everyone back and adding a few more linemen, do the Seminoles try to get Scott a developmental year? Or do they again throw him out there after an extremely promising true freshman season?
It would seem that he best helps their chances to win now so the latter seems more likely.
Countdown recap
No. 40: DL Shambre Jackson
More:Florida State football most important player countdown: No. 40
No. 39: OL Dontae Lucas
More:Florida State football most important player countdown: No. 39
No. 38: WR Kentron Poitier
More:Florida State football most important player countdown: No. 38
No. 37: DB Akeem Dent
More:Florida State football most important player countdown: No. 37
No. 36: P Alex Mastromanno
More:Florida State football most important player countdown: No. 36
No. 35: LB DJ Lundy
More:Florida State football most important player countdown: No. 35
No. 34: DB Jarques McClellion
More:Florida State football most important player countdown: No. 34
No. 33: DE Derrick McLendon
More:Florida State football most important player countdown: No. 33
No. 32: RB DJ Williams
More:Florida State football most important player countdown: No. 32
No. 31: OL Baveon Johnson
More:Florida State football most important player countdown: No. 31
No. 30: DB Brandon Moore
More:Florida State football most important player countdown: No. 30
No. 29: WR Malik McClain
More:Florida State football most important player countdown: No. 29
No. 28: LB Emmett Rice
More:Florida State football most important player countdown: No. 28
No. 27: DB Meiko Dotson
More:Florida State football most important player countdown: No. 27
No. 26: OL Darius Washington
More:Florida State football most important player countdown: No. 26
No. 25: LB Stephen Dix Jr.
More:Florida State football most important player countdown: No. 25
No. 24: DE Dennis Briggs Jr.
More:Florida State football Most Important Player countdown: No. 24
No. 23: TE Jordan Wilson
More:Florida State football most important player countdown: No. 23
No. 22: DB Travis Jay
More:Florida State football Most Important Player countdown: No. 22
Reach Curt Weiler at cweiler@tallahassee.com or follow him on Twitter @CurtMWeiler.
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