FSU Football: Improved or not, how will Nole units compare to 2017?
By Kelvin Hunt
Linebackers Are Worse Than 2017
This is the weakest unit on this team by far. The Noles were not great with senior linebackers Matthew Thomas and Ro’Derrick Hoskins last season.
Both of those guys are now gone with junior Dontavious Jackson returning as the most experienced linebacker with 37 career tackles in just over 20 games.
The scary part is he doesn’t have the experience he should have because of butting heads with the old staff and not staying in the best possible shape.
However, he has rectified that problem and looked in great shape in spring camp. The only questions are who’s going to join him in the middle of the defense?
Can junior Josh Brown finally make his mark after showing promise early under the old regime. What about Leonard Warner, Adonis Thomas or true freshmen Amari Gainer or Xavier Peters?
Will Emmett Rice be 100 percent recovered from the injury suffered in the bowl game to compete for a spot?
All of these players were blue chip recruits, so it’s not a lack of talent at the position. It’s sheer experience and being coached the right way in which they’re lacking.
Because of the lack of experience and uncertainty of who’ll play along with Jackson I have to see this unit is downgraded from last season.