Florida State’s coaches approached walk-on QB Wyatt Rector about changing positions earlier this offseason.

Looking at the depth chart at tight end, following the departure of Tre’ McKitty (Georgia transfer) and Gabe Nabers (exhausted eligibility), Mike Norvell, Kenny Dillingham and Chris Thomsen all determined that they needed help at the position. Tight end, after all, has been an integral part of Norvell’s offenses and going into spring with two scholarship players at the position was less than ideal.

Doing some research, Norvell talked with receivers coach Ron Dugans, who spoke highly about Rector’s athleticism and overall skill set as a scout-team quarterback the previous season. Rector, who came to FSU as a walk-on in 2019, was named FSU’s Offensive Scout Team MVP in his first year on campus. He not only played QB, but lined up at tight end to help block Marvin Wilson and at running back to legitimately give the defense a good look while acting as Boston College’s bruising AJ Dillon.

So FSU’s staff sat Rector down a couple weeks ago and asked him about switching from QB to tight end. Making the move could help out FSU’s depth instantly this spring and assure Rector of more meaningful reps in practice, they said.

His response: ‘Let’s go.’

With that, Rector started to make the transition from quarterback to tight end.

“He’s a super detailed guy. Everything that you tell him to do, he’s going to do it and try to do at a high level,” said Thomsen, Rector’s new position coach. “How that’ll translate to the field, we don’t know because he’s not played the position. But in terms of work ethic, he’s already brought a ton to the team just because you can’t help but look at him, he just inspires you with his work ethic. He inspires us as coaches, all of the guys have.”

Rector (6-2, 227) has the physical tools to help at tight end. Of course, we don’t know if he can catch consistently given that he played quarterback throughout high school and at Western Michigan in 2018. But Rector was a true dual-threat in high school, surpassing 1,000 rushing yards as a senior and being timed in the 4.5s in the 40-yard dash. Rector has consistently impressed staffers and teammates alike this offseason, recently earning the rare black jersey honor that is bestowed the truly elite performers during mat drills.

Thomsen detailed how FSU will use its tight ends during his recent interview with Noles247’s On The Bench, noting that the Seminoles are going to move the position all over the field. In terms of what FSU is looking for, it’s going to value athleticism and suddenness over size and length.

In that regard, Rector can help. He’s theoretically athletic enough to create some matchup problems, and should be able to pick up his positional assignments quickly given his background as a quarterback.

Camren McDonald and Carter Boatwright are the two scholarship players at the position this spring, and they’re joined by Rector and walk-on Austin White.

“I don’t know how many Tour of Duties that we’ve done, but they’re so much better than they were at first,” Thomsen said. “Camm has worked really, really hard. Wyatt has worked really, really hard. Both of those guys have worked hard on the details and have been pushing themselves physically. And then Austin is getting bigger, and growing and developing, he’s pushed himself really hard. And Carter, for a kid to come in out of high school and jump into this stuff, it’s pretty much a shock to your system and I would say at first he was asking himself ‘what have I gotten myself into here.’ But he has gotten dramatically better, just because he’s continued to push himself.

“So I’m really proud of all those guys and what they’ve done, and I’m really excited about spring ball to so what they do once we’re out there.”

McDonald has many of the traits FSU covets at tight end, but Boatwright is facing a steep learning curve as he transitions from the prep level. Without many numbers at the position, FSU was forced to get creative and explore internal options on the roster.

Rector stood out, and that means there should be reps for him to show what he can do at a new position this spring.