FSU football: Several Nole commits and targets climb recruiting rankings

One of the biggest questions regarding the FSU football coaching staff was their ability to recruit.

One of the most important aspects of recruiting is evaluating talent, which is something the staff couldn’t do in person for over a year.

Despite the limitations, the staff has been one of the best at finding and evaluating talent according to the composite recruiting ranks.

Several FSU football commits and targets have climbed in the latest recruiting rankings update:

• Travis Hunter Jr.-Hunter Jr. was already one of the top players in the nation when he committed in March 2020. He debuted as the No. 7 player overall and has climbed to the No. 2 spot in the latest ranking update. Hunter Jr. is the No. 1 player in the 2022 class for my money, and that would be if he was an FSU commit or not.
• Sam McCall-McCall was the No. 35 ranked player overall when he committed to the Noles on February 28. The five-star has climbed to the No. 28 spot overall in the latest rankings.
• AJ Duffy-Duffy was the No. 76 ranked player overall when he committed to the Noles in late April. He ranks as the No. 74 player overall, and that’s with 247 sports failing to update their ranking of him(which impacts the composite ranking). They still have him as the No. 11 prostyle QB in the nation, and there are not 10 prostyle QB’s better than him.
• Aliou Bah-Bah was the No. 516 ranked player overall when he committed to the Noles on May 7th. Bah has climbed the rankings quickly after a nice showing at FSU recently. He’s now considered a composite four-star and the No. 357 player overall.
• Rodney Hill-Hill was the No. 542 player overall and No. 48 ranked athlete when he committed to the Noles over two months ago. However, that has changed as he’s ranked as the No. 428 player overall and No. 37 ranked athlete.
• Devaughn Mortimer-Mortimer was the No. 604 player nationally and No. 76 wide receiver when he committed to the Noles two months ago. More recent footage of Mortimer working out has become available, and he has climbed to the No. 451 player overall and No. 62 wide receiver.
• Aaron Hester-Aaron Hester is an FSU legacy, who committed in February as the No. 397 player overall and No. 25 weakside DE. He’s considered the No. 454 player nationally and No. 24 weakside DE. His player average improved from .8789 to .8817. He’s looked really good in drills recently while at FSU.
• Nyjalik Kelly–Nyjalik Kelly committed to the Noles without ever meeting the FSU coaching staff in 2020. He was the No. 587 player overall at the time and has climbed to the No. 96 player overall in the latest ranking update. Kelly de-committed from FSU recently as more teams offered, and he recently met the FSU coaches for the first time. FSU is still in the mix and a great example of the staff doing a great job of early evaluations.

The coaching staff was involved with some other players early on, and it looks like their decision to mutually separate was correct. Nicco Marchiol was a one-time FSU commit who was the No. 220 player overall at the time. However, the commitment of AJ Duffy influenced Marchiol to de-commit, and he’s now considered the No. 290 player overall.

Quincey McAdoo was a one-time FSU commit who was the No. 218 ranked player overall. However, the two decided to mutually part ways a couple of months later, and McAdoo has slid down the rankings to the No. 342 player overall in the latest rankings update.

Final Thoughts

There are several things to be excited about with this coaching staff. The organization of practices and camps has improved over the previous staff, and their ability to evaluate roster needs and address them are much-proved over the previous staff as well.

The key to it all is showing improvement on the field, and signs pointing to them improving the product on the field in 2021. If that’s the case, the FSU football program will be back sooner rather than later.