FSU football: How much can ‘Noles defense improve over 2021?

Jermaine Johnson and Keir Thomas Effect

I know some people want to give most of the credit for the defensive improvement to Jermaine Johnson and Keir Thomas. Johnson will be a top-10 NFL Draft pick, and Thomas will likely sign with an NFL team. Credit has to go to the coaches for signing them, but coaches are usually only as good as the players they coach. As good as Johnson and Thomas were, a lot of their production came in those first four games. Check it:

Jermaine Johnson
-44 percent of tackles came in the first four games
-47.8 percent of his sacks came in the first four games
-25 percent of his QB hurries came in the first four games
-42.8 percent of his tackles for a loss came in the first four games

Keir Thomas
-26.1 percent of tackles came in the first four games
-15.3 percent of his sacks came in the first four games
-26.6 percent of his QB hurries came in the first four games
-29.1 percent of his tackles for a loss came in the first four games

Of course, both guys has some monster individual games. FSU doesn’t beat Miami without Jermaine Johnson, and FSU likely doesn’t beat Boston College without Keir Thomas’ performance. Both guys had impressive games against Clemson.

There were times when Johnson cooled down, and Thomas took over and vice versa throughout the season. However, it’s worth noting a lot of their production took place when FSU wasn’t playing that well as a unit in the first four games.