Importance of Travis Hunter Jr. No. 1 ranking and level of commitment

FSU football landed another blue-chip offensive lineman Monday afternoon with the commitment of Jaylen Early.

The Noles have the No. 8 recruiting class and the No. 1 overall player in the country with Travis Hunter Jr.

The former No. 1 ranked player, Ohio State QB Quinn Ewers, reclassified to 2021, giving way to Travis Hunter Jr. to claim his rightful spot.

Ewers is a special talent, but Travis Hunter Jr. is the best cornerback AND the best wide receiver in the country.

The kid has NFL players posting on social media about him and how he’s the best player they’ve ever seen in high school.

The best thing I like about Hunter Jr. is his mentality. He has been on a mission to prove why he’s the best player all summer and has dominated every 7on7 event he’s participated in so far.

If there’s an opportunity to compete, he’s going to compete, as evidenced by going up against 2022 five-star commit Sam McCall and 2023 five-star targetJalen Brown at the Seminole Showcase event a few days ago.

It’s one thing to have the ranking, but to continue to back it up and not run from competition puts Travis Hunter Jr. in a different category. All of FSU’s rivals pray he eventually flips, but all Hunter Jr. does is continue to prove his loyalty to FSU and its coaching staff.

Let’s talk about how important his No. 1 ranking and level of commitment is to FSU’s recruiting class.

No. 1 Ranking

When casual college football fans think of FSU, one of the best things they are known for is producing great defensive backs.

Deion Sanders, Terrelle Buckley, Bryant McFadden, Jalen Ramsey, Derwin James, Antonio Cromartie, Ronald Darby, Lamarcus Joyner, and the list goes on and on.

Travis Hunter Jr.’s ranking is higher than all of those players. He is the highest-ranked cornerback of ALL-time, and that was before he became the No. 1 ranked player. The importance of ranking goes like this.

FSU football isn’t expected to win too many games in 2021. They have three games they’ll be clear favorites in and a host of coin flip games that give them a realistic chance to win 6-7.

Rival fans bank on FSU losing games in hopes of the recruiting class falling apart. In large part because Mike Norvell and the coaching staff have outworked them and dominated them despite last season.

The problem for rival fans is Travis Hunter Jr. is locked into FSU because of the coaching staff. Credit must be given to the staff for that, but I would be remiss if I didn’t give Travis Hunter Jr. credit for his role in helping the coaching staff put this recruiting class together.

What people don’t realize is these players have committed to a program that won three games last year. Mike Norvell isn’t selling these players on hopes and dreams of them winning 10 games in 2021. Travis Hunter Jr. understands that, and if the No. 1 player in the nation is locked in, I think there’s a good chance most of the recruiting class will stay locked in.

Who doesn’t want to play with the best player in the nation?

Level of Commitment

How committed is Travis Hunter Jr.? It’s a question FSU fans have been dealing with since he committed as rival fans continue to pray he doesn’t stick with his commitment.

All Travis Hunter Jr. does is continue to silence the naysayers. This tweet was from back in January.

This tweet was from two days ago.

He has spurned Clemson already and isn’t taking phone calls from other colleges. This is the tweet that’s pinned on his profile.

That level of commitment will be vital in helping hold this class together if things get rough during the season. Will a couple of players likely look around or ultimately decide to go elsewhere?

There’s a high probability of that with most recruiting classes as factors come into play. However, this 2022 FSU recruiting class seems to be locked in together for the most part.

The prestige of the No. 1 overall ranking and Travis Hunter Jr’s level of commitment will go a long way towards getting FSU football back to where it’s supposed to be.