Chop Chat
Fansided

Can FSU Football really land top 2019 recruit Kayvon Thibodeaux?

By Jason Parker

ARLINGTON, TX - AUGUST 30: A Florida State Seminoles cheerleader runs a flag on the field before a game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on August 30, 2014 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TX - AUGUST 30: A Florida State Seminoles cheerleader runs a flag on the field before a game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on August 30, 2014 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

FSU football is still in the running after the California native unveiled his final five schools last weekend, so is this something that can happen?

While the summer is here and some people aren’t even prepared for the 2018 season, fans of FSU football are paying close attention to what will take place with the #Tribe19 recruiting class – the first full year group that head coach Willie Taggart and staff have been able to recruit and a group already ranked in the top 10 by several services.

That ranking could skyrocket even higher if the Seminoles can land some of the undeclared players left out there – including the top ranked player according to 247 Sports, defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux from Oaks Christian School in the Los Angeles, California area.

This past weekend, Thibodeaux released the final five teams that he is looking at to make his college decision – and FSU football made the cut, joining rival Florida, defending national champion Alabama and the west coast schools USC and Oregon.

While the Trojans still have the lead according to 247 Sports’ predictions (with the Seminoles in a distant second place), Thibodeaux raved about his visit to Tallahassee during the spring game in an online blog for USA Today Sports – even ranking the Noles ahead of the visit to the Crimson Tide.

With Thibodeaux likely to make two more visits to the FSU football program – an event later this month and possibly taking an official visit for the opener against Virginia Tech – the question has to be asked: do the Seminoles have a legit shot of getting the top ranked player to commit?

Taggart has built a relationship with west coast players from his one year stint with the Ducks and bought three players from the Pacific Coast in with this past FSU football class, so there is the familiarity between the player and coach.

In addition, you would have to think that someone is not going to make three cross-country visits in less than five months if he just wants to see the Tallahassee campus – as Thibodeaux talked about liking both the program and the schools as a whole when he visited this past April.

Right now, the only disadvantage for FSU football is that they currently have four defensive ends committed as part of the class – but you can bet that at least one or two of them would move on if they knew that Thibodeaux was coming to town at the same time that you still have Joshua Kaindoh for at least one year (and assuming Brian Burns balls out this season and leaves early.)

Next: Can FSU 2019 commits convince other stars at The Opening?

FSU football is still one of the name programs in the game – despite last season’s setback of a 7-6 record and the coaching change – so they can go out and get whoever they want, even a stud player over 2,200 miles away from campus.

Home/FSU Football