FSU football: 3 blue chip players from 2016 who need to shine in 2020

FSU football brought in a very good recruiting class on paper in 2016. It’s time for these three blue-chip players to contribute in 2020.

I have discussed at length how the highly ranked FSU football recruiting classes of the old regime have failed to produce since 2015.

If you recall we did the leg work and found that from 2015-17, 53 percent of the blue-chip players signed are no longer with the program or have not made any real contributions.

The 2016 class was considered the No. 3 overall class in the nation with 16 of 25 signees rated as four-star or better.

However, two signees Shavar Manuel and Keion Joyner didn’t qualify academically. They both were sign and place projects who never made the grades to get back to Division I football.

It was the type of class that was thought to solidify the Noles upfront on the offensive line and provide the quarterback of the future in Malik Henry.  Neither came to fruition as Malik Henry never played a down and three of the blue-chip offensive linemen transferred from the program at one time or another.

The class had seven players ranked in the top 100 with several players ranked in the top 10 at their respective positions.

Nine of the 23 signees either transferred or were dismissed from the program with the one gem in this class being Brian Burns who was selected in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft.

There’s still a lot of talent from that class that has yet to contribute. Injuries wreaked havoc with others being slow to develop. Let’s take a look at three blue chip players from the 2016 class that need to shine in 2020.