FSU football: Impact of Stanford Samuels III going pro
By Kelvin Hunt
Experience
Samuels would have been FSU’s most experienced cornerback had he returned in 2020. He played in all 13 games as a true freshman in 2017 and started 11 of 12 games as a sophomore in 2018.
He also played in all 12 regular season games in 2019. I know I was a bit critical of Samuels earlier as I said his tape was a mixed bag of good and bad.
However, it should be noted he played the boundary cornerback position which is the more difficult of the two cornerback positions.
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He also usually faced the best receiver of the opposing team each game from that position. It just seemed as though he got burned way too often for a player of his rating coming out of high school.
That goes back to the lack of coaching he received in his time at FSU. Whether it was lack of technique taught or being put in unfavorable coverages in certain situations, it made it difficult for even the most talented athletes to excel.
Frankly, it could be one of the underlying reasons why he’s not willing to come back his senior year as I’m not sure he’s be able to improve his draft stock a ton.