FSU football: Impact of blue-chip OL Roderick Kearney commitment

FSU football had not received a ranked 2023 commit since April 1st and had a de-commitment a couple of days ago from three-star TE Randy Pittman.

To say the Noles needed good news on the recruiting trail was an understatement, and it got a huge boost when blue-chip offensive lineman Roderick Kearney announced his pledge to the Noles Sunday afternoon.

Kearney was one of the top targets on the FSU offensive line recruiting board, and had named the Noles a leader in his recruitment months ago.

The timing of the annoucement couldn’t have been better, as he announced the news minutes after leaving from an official visit to rival Florida:

Kearney ranks as the No. 128 player and No. 6 interior offensive lineman. He’s the No. 27 player in Florida and is FSU’s highest-ranked commit in the 2023 recruiting class.

The lone addition improves FSU’s national ranking from No. 51 to No. 44, but two of FSU’s commits don’t have rankings, so that number will be higher once those receive ranking updates.

Kearney would be the highest-ranked recruit signed since 2016 when top 50 players Landon Dickerson and Baveon Johnson joined the Noles.

FSU signed four blue-chip linemen in 2022, and Kearney could be the first of a couple more for 2023.

I know fans get up in arms about skill players, and FSU could improve recruiting in that area for sure, but the way they have addressed the trenches will lead to success, especially if they get better quarterback play in the future.

It’s good to see FSU land a top in-state player, and hopefully, this is only the beginning of FSU’s summer momentum in recruiting, similar to last year.

They have a several targets that could pop in the next couple of weeks. If that’s the case, this recruiting class will look much different than a week ago.