FSU football: Grading 2017 recruiting class in retrospect
By Kelvin Hunt
Non-Impact
This is the longest list so I figured I’d begin here. It almost pains to write this as I look at some many names that we thought would amount to solid players. These are the players who neither never played, barely played or managed to play here and there but were mostly injured or just terrible.
- Khalan Laborn: 5-star RB
- Ja’Len Parks: 4-star DT
- Za’Quandre White: 4-star RB
- Bailey Hockman: 4-star QB
- Adonis Thomas 3-star LB
- Alexander Marshall: 3-star TE
- Tre Lawson: 3-star DE
- Deonte Sheffield: 3-star RB
- DeCalon Brooks: 3-star LB
That’s 39 percent of the class right there. Khalan Laborn redshirted his freshman season and was injured and missed almost all of his sophomore season. He managed 63 carries last season but was largely invisible behind Cam Akers. Ja’Len Parks was injured the entire time and never could get healthy before being medically disqualified. Za’Quandre White never played running back and switched to linebacker before leaving to go the JUCO route.
Bailey Hockman transferred to NC State and played poorly. In fact, the FSU defense absolutely wrecked him in Tallahassee last year. Adonis Thomas was terrible. Alexander Marshall hit the transfer portal and Tre Lawson was kicked off the team for fighting. He’s since signed with Mississippi State after going the JUCO route. Deonte Sheffield is a player no thought would ever see the field unless it was garbage timei or mop up duty, but he did play well in the Sun Bowl last month. DeCalon Brooks played some but is just too small and slow out there.