FSU football: Will 2022 recruiting class have 50 percent blue-chip ratio?

FSU football recruiting, historically, is among the best of the best. However, that hasn’t been the case over the past three or four recruiting cycles.

Coaching changes, poor recruiting strategies, poor on-the-field product, and the COVID-19 pandemic have all been influencing factors.

FSU football has not had a recruiting class with a 50 percent or great blue-chip ratio since 2018.

The first transitional class under Willie Taggart had a 61.9 percent (13 of 21)blue-chip ratio, but unfortunately, 9 of those 13 blue-chip players are no longer with the program.

The 2019 class checked in at 42.8 percent, 2020 checked in at 29.1 percent, and 2021 checked in at 35.2 percent.

The 2022 class currently has eight commitments, with four players rated as blue-chip players (50 percent). Will this be the class that finally gets the Noles over the 50 percent or better ratio when it comes to blue-chip players?

If all of the current players remain, that leaves about 14 spots for high school players in the class, as I still believe the coaching staff will try to grab a few quality players from the transfer portal.

We have to keep in mind transfers are not calculated into the team rankings at the moment. If this is the case, the FSU coaching staff will need to land at least seven more blue-chip players to maintain the 50 percent blue-chip ratio. That would give them 11 of 22 players as blue-chip, with three spots left for players from the transfer portal.

This is foreshadowing on an upcoming piece, but the Noles are in a good position with several blue-chip players. However, they plan to take several offensive linemen, who historically are hard to rank, and good ones are not always ranked as blue-chip players.

FSU has one blue-chip offensive lineman committed and will likely take at least three or four more. A few of the targets are blue-chips, but will FSU land them? What about the trenches on the defensive side of the ball?

FSU doesn’t have any defensive tackles committed,. and most of the realistic defensive tackle targets are not blue-chip players right now. Where are the seven blue-chip players needed going to come from if they take 22 high school players? Stay tuned for a realistic list of blue-chip players the Noles could sign in 2022.