FSU football: 3 biggest needs in 2022 recruiting class

Defensive Tackle

Listen, I wrote about the staff’s need to address this position late last week. It was only a few hours later when they offered the high school teammate of recent FSU signee Destyn Hill a scholarship.

This is a position the staff knows they need to hit out of the park after not signing a blue-chip defensive tackle out of high school since 2018.

They offered over 20 players, with several of the targets coming from Florida and Georgia. FSU could lose Robert Cooper, Fabien Lovett, and Dennis Briggs Jr. after the 2021 season.

IF that happens, that leaves Tru Thompson, Quashon Fuller, Curtis Fann, and Malcolm Ray, with Thompson the only player to see any real playing time.

Mike Norvell has to bring in some big-time defensive tackles in 2022 or that position will be a glaring weakness like offensive tackle the last few years.

Final Thoughts

FSU football has players at the skill positions that are talented enough to compete against most teams they’ll face on the schedule. FSU will be young at wide receiver with a lot of unproven talent.

However, the quarterback play should be better with a full offseason to prepare. The addition of Kansas transfer Andrew Parchment will help too.

The biggest difference between FSU now and winning 10 games a season is in the trenches.

The offensive line took some small strides in 2020 and will need to continue that ascent if FSU plans to keep climbing.

On the defensive side of the ball, no pass rush makes it difficult on the secondary because they have to cover receivers for too long. FSU is addressing those needs, but they need to hit home runs along the defensive tackle position for me to feel good about that side of the ball since they’ve struggled with prep players the past few years.

These are the three areas FSU needs to address if they have any hope of being able to compete against elite teams again. Games are won or lost in the trenches, and FSU coaches have shown they are capable of identifying needs and filling them. Here’s to hoping that can continue in 2022.