For much of National Signing Day, Florida State fans chewed on fingernails and wondered what had gone wrong. Entering the day, the Seminoles were in the legitimate running for four blue-chip prospects, headlined by 5-star defensive tackle Marvin Wilson.
FSU walked away with two of the four, but the day ended with a bang as Wilson chose the Seminoles over LSU. Wilson’s commitment served as the exclamation point on yet another top 10 class for head coach Jimbo Fisher and company.
On top of that, seven — nearly a third — of Florida State’s 24 commitments are already on campus. That includes two of the four 5-stars the Seminoles inked and four of their top seven players from the class.
The other three 5-stars — running backs Cam Akers and Khalan Laborn and defensive end Joshua Kaindoh — will help immediately fill voids left behind from FSU’s best two departing players. Those of course are running back Dalvin Cook and defensive end DeMarcus Walker.
With his 2017 class, Fisher also doubled his total number of scholarship quarterbacks to four with the additions of 4-star lefty Bailey Hockman and 3-star James Blackman. Hockman has enrolled early while Blackman shut down his recruitment in mid-January despite late pushes from the likes of Florida, Louisville and West Virginia.
Other key needs addressed for Florida State came at wide receiver, defensive end, linebacker and safety. Adding Tre Lawson to go along with Kaindoh at end was key for future depth at the position. Bringing in two receivers who could play early in Tamorrion Terry and D.J. Matthews was also huge as the number of scholarship players at the position jumps from five to seven.
With Nate Andrews (assuming he gets a medical redshirt), Trey Marshall and Ermon Lane set to be seniors next season and Derwin James likely to leave early for the NFL Draft, the Seminoles had holes to plug at safety and did so with a pair of 4-star players. Cyrus Fagan is already on campus for FSU while Hamsah Nasirildeen’s decision to flip from South Carolina in late January actually served as a slight upgrade from Daniel Wright, who flipped from FSU to Alabama in December.
Though FSU whiffed on Wednesday with 4-star linebacker Levi Jones, 4-star receiver Henry Ruggs III and on a flip attempt with 3-star defensive tackle and LSU commit Neil Farrell, it did start the day with the addition of 4-star linebacker Leonard Warner.
Warner becomes the highest rated and one of three players at a position that will lose both starters after next season. Joining Warner at linebacker are 3-star junior college transfer and early enrollee Adonis Thomas and 3-star DeCalon Brooks, who happens to be the son of FSU legend Derrick Brooks.
Although Wednesday wasn’t everything it could have been for Florida State, Fisher and company avoided any Signing Day attrition while reeling in the No. 1 class in the ACC for an eighth straight cycle and a seventh top-10 class in eight years. It’s a class filled with blue-chip prospects, instant contributors and one that addressed every key need.
After a stretch that includes five straight major bowl appearances, four top-10 finishes, three ACC titles and a national championship, the 2017 recruiting class is probably a pretty good indication that FSU isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
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