FSU football: Insight into offensive line recruitment for 2024 and beyond

As I alluded to in this article, the FSU football offensive line has improved under the guidance of offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Alex Atkins.

Atkins will have nine offensive linemen on its roster this fall with collegiate experience. However, three of those nine will be in their final season of eligibility in 2023.

RELOADING THE TRENCHES

FSU will have to look to replace offensive tackle Bless Harris, and interior offensive linemen D’Mitri Emmanuel and Casey Roddick. The Seminoles should be bringing a ton of talented pieces back in 2024, such as Jeremiah Byers, Maurice Smith, Robert Scott Jr., Darius Washington, Keiondre Jones, among others.

However, FSU needs must continue bringing in highly-touted prospects through the recruiting ranks and the transfer portal. The Seminoles did a nice job in the 2023 recruiting cycle, where they signed four-star offensive tackle Lucas Simmons and three-star offensive tackle Andre Otto.

The recruiting approach by Atkins is a bit different than everyone else. He tells prospects how it is and doesn’t sugarcoat anything. Here is a quote from an interview that On3 National Recruiting Writer Jeremy Johnson conducted with Class of 2025 four-star offensive lineman target Peyton Joseph:

FSU OL TARGET OUTLOOK

But right now, Florida State does not have offensive linemen committed to their recruiting cycle. However, that looks to be changing in the near future as four-star offensive tackles Manasse Itete and Jonathan Daniels (who can also play on the interior), as well as four-star interior offensive linemen Jason Zandamela, have all received crystal ball predictions in favor of the Florida State Seminoles.

FSU TRENDING FOR CLEARWATER STANDOUT?

In terms of which offensive lineman could commit first, four-star interior offensive lineman Jason Zandamela from Clearwater Academy International in Clearwater, Florida (born in Mozambique) has an official visit scheduled to Tallahassee for June 23.

Then he has a commitment scheduled for July 6. This situation largely favors the Seminoles since FSU football is his last official visit that he will utilize before deciding. It also helps that his former high school teammate is current FSU offensive lineman Lucas Simmons (who I mentioned above).

All in all, Coach Atkins and his assistant coaching staff have done a phenomenal job with the offensive line position group. The Seminoles should be in a position for multiple years of success and growth.