FSU football had the least players drafted since 2009 with Cam Akers being the only player selected in 2020. Will things get better?
Recruiting is the lifeblood of any college football program, and FSU football has seen a decline in talent in recent years.
It’s also seen a lack of development with the blue-chip talent it has amassed during that time. The lack of elite talent in recent years won’t show up until 2022 or 2023 unless Mike Norvell can significantly develop the talent accrued during that time.
The good news? It looks like there’s a chance that could happen if we look at how many players were drafted from where Mike Norvell coached last, the Memphis Tigers.
Norvell arrived in Memphis in 2016, so I’d say we can’t give him credit for the players selected that year or the year afterward. So let’s start with the 2019 and 2020 NFL Drafts, where five Memphis players were selected.
FSU football only had three players selected in the same time frame, and it should be noted Marvin Wilson and Tamorrion Terry definitely would have been drafted had they not decided to come back.
However, when you look at the recruiting rankings of the two programs over the same time frame, it’s impressive to see what Mike Norvell and staff were able to achieve at Memphis.
Here are the average recruiting rankings from 2017-2019:
-Memphis-56,81, 67 (No. 68 average)
-FSU-6, 11, 19 (No. 12 average)