FSU football: Impact of Cory Durden opting out of 2020 season

FSU football continues to lose players for the season.

The FSU football list of players that will not be contributing in the remaining three games continues to grow.

Redshirt junior defensive tackle Cory Durden announced via his Twitter account he would be opting out of the remaining three games of the season.

Durden’s return in 2020 coupled with the announcement of Marvin Wilson returning, placed high expectations on the defensive line unit.

Several publications rated that unit in the preseason among the best in the nation.

However, that group has been a huge disappointment, as players have been battling injuries or been ineffective in games for whatever reason. Durden pointed out some of his issues in the Tweet below:

Durden has seen a steep drop off in his production compared to last year, and it makes sense since he hasn’t been 100 percent physically.

He’s tallied only seven tackles and .5 tackles for loss in 2020. Durden clearly states he’s not pursuing the NFL after this year, but it’s not clear if he plans to stay at FSU for 2021 either. He is a guy that wears his heart on his sleeve, so maybe he wanted to give a thorough explanation of why he won’t be on the field the remaining three games?

However, could the nature of his wording could imply his time at FSU is coming to an end? He doesn’t mention anything about going into the transfer portal, just opting out for the remaining games this season.

FSU football lost defensive tackle, Marvin Wilson, for the season last week, and the defensive line had several new faces in the lineup against NC State Saturday night.

The next three games will be an opportunity to see what’s possible with that unit, with the possibility of a healthy Durden rejoin them in 2021.