FSU football had sent a ton of talent to the NFL over the past 10-15 years. However, none of them are considered among the best of the last decade.
FSU football produced 2 players who were named to the NFL 2000s All-Decade Team with Walter Jones and Derrick Brooks receiving those honors a decade ago.
The Noles produced 12 first round, and five second-round NFL Draft picks between 2005-2013.
They had a ton of others selected in the third round or later too.
However, the program failed to produce any players to be named to the NFL’s 2010s All-Decade Team that was released Tuesday. They didn’t have any that made the “snubbed” list or anything.
I only used the 05-13 time frame as that was the best period for a player to be signed and play long enough to be productive to make the team.
We’re talking excellent FSU football players like Travis Johnson, Ernie Sims, Lawrence Timmons, and Rodney Hudson.
Of course, the FSU football program can’t control what happens with players once they get to the NFL. Things like injuries alter careers, and sometimes players don’t fit within the scheme the way one would think.
The good news is there are some FSU players drafted in recent years who have a good shot to make the next NFL All-Decade Team as long as the injury bug stays away.
Players like Jalen Ramsey, Derwin James, Dalvin Cook, and Brian Burns are talented enough to be among the greats. They were all selected in the first round of the NFL Draft or had the talent to be in Cook’s case.
If these players don’t make the team, there’s a good chance the Noles will go another decade without having a spot represented by a former Nole.
Here’s to Mike Norvell getting the program back to respectability and reeling in more top players in the nation out of high school.