FSU football: Why four-star Rod Orr intending to sign early is a big deal

FSU football finally receives some great recruiting news.

FSU football is looking to finish up its 2021 recruiting class strong as they have 15 commitments and about 10-11 slots left to finish.

One of the most important pieces in its class has announced he plans to sign with the Noles during the early signing period in less than two weeks.

Four-star offensive tackle Rod Orr committed to the Noles in September and be the first blue-chip offensive tackle the Noles have signed in years.

He announced the news via his Twitter account Saturday morning:

Orr is considered the No. 309 ranked player overall and No. 22 offensive tackle, and No. 10 players in the state of Alabama. He is listed at 6’7″ and 296 pounds while holding 29 offers from the likes of Oregon, Ole Miss, TCU, Syracuse, Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi State, and others.

It’s a huge deal because Orr comes at arguably one of the most important positions to fill for the coaching staff. When he signs early, it’ll be one less player they have to keep recruiting through National Signing Day, and that time and resources can be devoted to others in the transfer portal.

It’s not ideal, but we’ve already seen freshman offensive lineman seeing playing time with the Noles in 2020. Thomas Shrader and Robert Scott were in high school this time last year and look to have promising futures.

It wasn’t long ago FSU football was signing offensive linemen that couldn’t play as a true freshman, and some still haven’t seen the field even though they’ve been on the roster for two seasons.

A lot of props have to go to offensive line coach Alex Atkins who was the primary recruiter here. It looks like a majority of the current recruits will be signing early. The key will be getting all of them to do so, which would help the coaches focus on closing 2021 strong while focusing on future classes.