The Daily Nole

FSU Recruiting: Five Targets to Keep an Eye On

Don Juan Moore/FSU athletics

At this point in the recruiting season, a lot of big fish are in the boat already. As we talked about in the previous rundown, Florida State landed tight end Tre’ McKitty, defensive end Joshua Kaindoh and running back Cam Akers. The Seminoles were also able to land junior college linebacker Adonis Thomas.

All four are early enrollees and join quarterback Bailey Hockman, receiver D.J. Matthews, cornerback Stanford Samuels III and safety Cyrus Fagan as early enrollees. As far as the rest of the recruiting season goes, FSU got a huge boost in the form of an exciting Orange Bowl victory over Michigan on Friday.

Here, we’ll be outlining five targets and positions Florida State is actively pursuing and within reach of landing:

1. Marvin Wilson, DT (Bellaire, TX)
Rankings:
5-star prospect, No. 3 overall player, No. 1 defensive tackle for 2017
Marvin Wilson has been one of FSU’s most sought-after recruits. The 5-star defensive tackle has consistently named FSU and LSU when talking about who will be in it until the end. He released a top 5 of FSU, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma and South Florida.

The feeling here is it’s an FSU/LSU battle. Wilson is believed to be an LSU lean, but until late in the process, Kaindoh was thought to be headed to Penn State and Akers wasn’t expected to land in Tallahassee. Something says this is FSU’s battle to lose and the Seminoles will continue to trend for his services.

2. Levi Jones, LB (Westlake, TX)
Rankings:
4-star prospect, No. 170 overall prospect, No. 12 outside linebacker for 2017
Jones is a talented outside linebacker prospect who FSU has been chasing. At his Under Armour game check in, he named FSU as one of his leaders. It seems as though FSU and Florida have the inside track. Sources in the know seem to feel good about FSU’s chances here as well.

3. Maleik Gray, S (LaVergne, TN)
Rankings:
4-star prospect, No. 63 overall prospect, No. 7 safety for 2017
Gray is a safety target that FSU has been chasing for a few years now. He has continued to stay in contact with FSU and that persistence seems to have paid off. Gray has stated that he will officially visit Tennessee (who he is currently committed to) on Jan. 13 and will visit FSU on Jan. 19.

Gray is very interested in FSU and keeping an open mind. If Gray does make the visit to FSU, then he is on flip watch. There is a very good chance FSU completes the flip if the official visit happens.

4. Another Defensive End
FSU is still very much in the thick of it for three defensive end prospects. Jarez Parks, a 4-star from Sebastian River, is down to Alabama, FSU and is officially visiting Florida soon. The sense is that Alabama has an edge.

Robert Beal, 4-star teammate of McKitty and Kaindoh, is down to Georgia (who he is currently committed to) and in some capacity, FSU. Beal stated at the Under Armour check in’s that he intends to take an unofficial visit to FSU around the same weekend as Gray. This is very beneficial for FSU as his aforementioned high school teammates will already be enrolled at Florida State. They will likely host him and be recruiting him. If this visit happens, FSU has a very good shot of pulling off the flip. Beal was thought to be an FSU lean until right before he committed to the Bulldogs.

FSU is also in it for 6-7 Tre Lawson. Lawson, a 3-star Georgia prospect, recently de-committed from Tennessee and FSU is thought to be in the lead group of teams with a chance to land him. FSU is very much alive for all three ends.

5. Finding a Receiver
It appears as though FSU is down to Tamorrion Terry and Henry Ruggs as potential wide receivers for this class to join Matthews. Terry, a 3-star Georgia prospect, has FSU and Auburn on top and FSU is expected to offer him if he qualifies. Terry is waiting on his test scores.

Ruggs is considered a ‘Bama lean but is also considering FSU and Florida. Most expect Alabama to be the choice for the 4-star from Alabama.

In an interview over the weekend, Ole Miss wide receiver commit D.D. Bowie from Mississippi said that if FSU were to offer him, he would flip to the Seminoles. For what it’s worth, the Seminoles’ recruiting Twitter account and tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator Tim Brewster began following Bowie on Sunday. He is friends with Cam Akers, if that means anything.

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