FSU Football: Top questions for Seminoles defense entering 2017

No. 1 – Is Derwin James going to be back to form – and can that win him the Heisman Trophy?

There is no doubt that when the unquestioned leader of the secondary went down with that season ending injury against Charleston Southern, the play of the defense from that point on suffered incredibly. No one is saying that they would have beating Louisville since that was just the Cardinals’ day, but you could argue the losses to UNC and Clemson don’t happen with Derwin in the lineup.

So far, all the news coming out of the FSU football program is that the former five star prospect looks like the man who was a freshman All-American in 2015 and had offenses across the ACC and around the country worrying what was in store. Jimbo Fisher and Charles Kelly put him at plenty of other spots during practice – even seeing time at defensive end – to use all his ability on that side of the ball.

Along with quarterback Deondre Francois, James is one of the most likely Heisman candidates from the Seminoles this season. He’s already drawing comparisons to former Michigan defensive back Jabrill Peppers, who went to New York last year as a finalist. If DJ3 can do enough on defense this season, there will be no need to do any of the other sideshows and he could easily be in the Big Apple come December.