FSU football coaches have been relentless in the transfer portal and it’s finally paying off for the 2020 recruiting class. It’s better than its final ranking.
The 2020 FSU football recruiting class was a disappointment to those fans that don’t pay attention to recruiting, and only look at the final ranking.
A No. 22 ranking isn’t acceptable at FSU football, but the product on the field the past few years, the advent of the early signing period, and firing a coach during the season is almost impossible to overcome.
Despite the No. 22 finish, Mike Norvell and staff was able to fill needs at several positions.
Notably, they signed two high school quarterbacks, a solid wide receiver group, some offensive tackles and top 100 player Demorie Tate who’ll challenge for playing time early although he’s not an early enrollee.
They signed 25 players with eight of them enrolling early, but have continued to add to the class via the transfer portal.
The Noles have added seven players thus far via the portal and could stand to add a few more depending who becomes available. I know they’d love to have one or two offensive tackles with experience who could play immediately.
Nonetheless, the players they have added all bring value at positions of need and are physically ready to play.
Let’s look at the seven players acquired via the portal.
2020 Transfers
Here’s a look at the seven players acquired via the transfer portal thus far and their eligibility:
- Meiko Dotson, DB (FAU)-Eligible in 2020
- Fabien Lovett, DT (Mississippi State)-Pending Appeal
- Deonte Williams, DE (Baylor)-Eligible 2020
- Cornel Jones, LB (Purdue)-Pending Appeal
- Devontay Taylor, OL (FIU)-Eligible in 2020
- Jashaun Corbin, RB (Texas A&M)-Eligible in 2020
- Jarrett Jackson, DE (Louisville)-Pending Appeal
That’s four more players eligible to play this fall, with the other three having good shots of getting their appeals approved.
That’s a good boost to Mike Norvell’s transition class. Corbin was the only player of the group rated as a blue-chip recruit, but six of the seven players listed have real college experience, which will help with depth in 2020.
Thoughts
The 2020 recruiting class isn’t full of highly-rated players, but it’s about as good as they could have done considering the circumstances.
I keep talking about the staffs’ ability to assess needs and fill them, but that’s something that’s been lacking even in the final year of the Jimbo Fisher era.
I think this is a sign of good things to come. The ability to assess a roster and evaluate talent takes the organization and the ability to get his staff to work together.
Those same qualities are needed when organizing practice and game-planning for opponents during the season.
The Noles seem to have established some momentum during this temporary dead period due to the coronavirus pandemic.
They’ve landed three transfers in the past week and have made several top-five and top 10 lists of 2021 recruiting targets.
We just need the season to play out so we can see what type of product Mike Norvell and staff will produce to see just where we stand.