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

2022 Season

The 2022 season for the FSU defense is promising for several reasons. They return a lot of production and experience on the defensive line, linebackers, and the secondary.

It’s year three in Adam Fuller’s scheme, so communication should be better, and he has a better idea of the strengths and weaknesses of each player.

The offense should take another step forward, which I believe their poor play early in the 2021 season impacted the defense. The biggest defensive question marks come at defensive end and one of the field cornerback spot vacated by Jarvis Brownlee.

There’s no guarantee Brownlee would keep his starting spot, and the coaches went to the transfer portal for Jared Verse to plug and play at defensive end.

I don’t think anyone expects him to be Jermaine Johnson this season, but I think Dennis Briggs can be comparable to Keir Thomas.

With stout defensive tackles, upgrades at linebacker play, and a talented secondary? The progress made from 2020 through the end of last year is promising. I’m bullish on that upward trajectory for Adam Fuller’s defense in 2022 as long as injuries stay away from key starters.