FSU Football: Top 5 most important defensive players for 2021

Travis Jay

Jay is a versatile defensive back who can play multiple positions in the secondary. He has experience at safety, corner, and nickel-back, all within his limited playing time as a Seminole.

He seemed to come alive as he got healthy last season, and he capped it off with a highlight real-level interception against Duke.

He has continued that high level of play into spring with 5 of 24 mission takeaway shoutouts. This team desperately needs Jay to take the next step as his role increases.

He will have to follow Hamsah Nasirildeen in that clean-up role, and it’ll start right now. Jay will need to have a strong summer in the weight room and a good fall camp. The largest variable in Jay’s improvement will be his partnership with Brendan Gant.

Gant added three takeaways of his own this spring and can move up into the box, forcing Jay to become more of a field general at free safety and control the middle of the field.

Now Jay does have the versatility to move around, as I mentioned before, and he could move down to nickel, how will he be able to play off of Robinson and Brownlee in that rotation. Or move to the corner should the room get exceptionally thin.

This staff values his skill set, and that value will increase if injuries mount and as the season grows on.