THE Orlando Pirates have signed former FSU QB James Blackman
ORLANDO, FL - The Pirates have signed former Florida State quarterback James Blackman. He will fill the roster spot that was vacated by Taulia Tagovailoa who was signed by the Houston Gamblers of the UFL before last weekend's season opening victory over the New Mexico Chupacabras 41-38.
By: Mick Moninghoff
Blackman, who checks in at 6"5", 210 lbs., also played collegiately at Arkansas State University before signing as an undrafted free agent with the Miami Dolphins in 2023. Blackman was part of the team's final roster cuts that season. In September of that year he was on the fall negotiation list of the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League.
A native of Belle Glade, FL, Blackman enjoyed an impressive career at Florida State. From 2017 through 2020 with the Seminoles, he tied for tenth in program history with 43 touchdown passes. He was 11th on the Noles completion list with 433 and ranked 12th in program history with 5,445 passing yards and in total offense with 5,417 yards. He finished his career in Tallahassee tied for 14th with three 300-yard passing games and was the second QB in school history to throw at least three touchdown passes in five consecutive starts.
In 2017 Blackman became the first true freshman starting quarterback at Florida State as Deondre Francois suffered a season ending injury in the season opener. That year Blackman threw for 2,230 yards with 19 TD passes. He threw four touchdown passes in the Independence Bowl and was the Offensive MVP. In 2019 he had a similar season with 2,339 yards passing with 17 touchdowns. After starting 25 of 33 games over four seasons, Blackman transferred to Arkansas State.
In 2021 with the Red Wolves he started in five of six games, but missed the remainder of the season with an injury. His final season was in 2022 as he started all 11 games and threw for 2,471 yards with 14 touchdowns. He ranked 40th in the nation with a 64.3 completion percentage. Blackman ended his Arkansas State career with 3,815 passing yards and 22 touchdowns
In 50 collegiate games Blackman was 765 of 1,246 passing for 61.4 percent. He passed for 9,260 yards with 65 touchdowns.
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