FSU football: 3-star linebacker target sets Tuesday commitment date

FSU football doesn’t have any linebackers committed for the 2023 recruitment cycle. It’s an area we’ve noted as a weakness thus far in need of quality players after only signing one high school player in 2022.

That could change Tuesday, and three-star linebacker target Demarco Ward announced a change of plans Monday night.

The Peach State product stated he would announce his commitment Tuesday afternoon.

The Noles have to be the favorite coming off an official visit to Tallahassee a couple of days ago.

Ward has 20 offers, mostly from smaller schools, but claims an offer from Louisville, Duke, Kansas, UCF, and Wake Forest.

Ward checks in at 6’2 and 217 pounds and plays in the 7A classification in Georgia, where he racked up 78 tackles (65 solo), three sacks, and an interception in his junior season. He also plays basketball and runs track, posting 11.63 100-meter time and 17.21 100-meter hurdles this spring as a junior. His Hudle profile claims a 4.5 forty-yard dash, but that’s likely a hand-time measurement.

Ward ranks as the 1,191 player and No. 94 linebacker, and FSU football is the only school he has officially visited. He told Noles247 he wasn’t sure what his plans were after his FSU visit concluded, but obviously, something changed over the past day.

I wrote how the addition of blue-chip offensive lineman Roderick Kearney could be the beginning of some summer momentum for the Noles. While Ward isn’t a highly-ranked player, it would contribute to that momentum with other targets potentially announced in the next couple of weeks.

I’ve watched a small amount of film on Ward and will delve into more of that if he commits Tuesday. FSU linebacker recruiting needs to step up under Randy Shannon, who doesn’t seem to have a concrete recruiting board like Alex Atkins. Could Ward be the first domino to fall there? We’ll find out Tuesday afternoon.