FSU Football: Can Noles have a top 10 defense in 2018?
By Kelvin Hunt
FSU football made a huge defensive turnaround with Mark Stoops took over for Mickey Andrews in 2010.
FSU football had a good defense in 2017 with Charles Kelly as defensive coordinator. A lot of FSU fans may disagree and admittedly the defense underachieved with him at the helm.
However, they were good in a lot of statistical categories and never allowed more than 35 points in one game(to Boston College of all teams).
The biggest eyesore was FSU’s inability to consistently get off the field on third and seven or more. They were so bad fans would concede teams converting the first down and then say “I told ya so” after it was converted.
I think that’s going to change in 2018 with Harlon Barnett at the helm. FSU football finished No. 33 in FootballOutsider’s S&P defensive rankings in 2017.
Florida State Seminoles Football
Again, that’s not elite, but it’s not terrible like the 2009 defense that finished ranked No. 76 according to S&P metrics.
If you remember, Mark Stoops took over for Mickey Andrews in 2010 and made the Noles respectable again in just one season. The 2010 FSU defense finished ranked No. 30 and jumped to No. 4 in 2011.
Well, this 2018 defense should be much farther along than the FSU 2010 defense as Coach Stoops seemingly had to start from scratch on a lot of defensive concepts.
It’s arguable this 2018 is more talented too. If the 2017 defense finished at No. 33, I’d like to think it’s conceivable they could finish ranked top 10 give or take a couple of spots.
They will only face one quarterback, NC State’s Ryan Finley, who’s talented enough to play at the next level. He lost two of his best weapons in Jaylen Samuels and Nyheim Hines to the NFL.
One thing to take into account is how FSU’s offense could impact the defense. There’s a possibility the defense could be on the field for more snaps in 2018. The FSU offense is built on scoring fast with explosive plays instead of long, clock eating sustained drives.
Harlon Barnett is an upgrade over Charles Kelly and this Noles group is talented in a lot of areas while playing against a group of average or below average quarterbacks aside from Finley.
That bodes well for this unit that’s built to stop the run while forcing quarterbacks to beat them with their arms.
Next: 3 Improvements To Expect From FSU Defense in 2018
The Noles should see an improvement in 2018 and a top ten ranking isn’t necessarily out of the question as Barnett’s Michigan State defense finished ranked No. 4 in S&P rankings in 2017.