FSU football: Grading our top 10 BOLD predictions for 2023

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 19: A Florida State Seminoles helmet is seen after a game between the Florida State Seminoles and the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns at Doak Campbell Stadium on November 19, 2022 in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 19: A Florida State Seminoles helmet is seen after a game between the Florida State Seminoles and the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns at Doak Campbell Stadium on November 19, 2022 in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Isaiah Vazquez/Getty Images) /

FSU Defense Will Have 95+ Tackles for loss

"FSU’s defense hasn’t had 100+ tackles for a loss since forever, and they probably won’t get there in 2023. However, I think they’ll get real close. I think we’ll get better production from the defensive tackles in splash plays at the line of scrimmage in the run game. Jared Verse had 17.5 tackles for a loss alone, and I think we’ll see an uptick from Patrick Payton and Fabien Lovett(if he stays healthy). I think we might see a slight uptick in tackles for a loss from the linebackers, and we could see more blitzes from Adam Fuller at different points this season. The Noles had 84 tackles for a loss last year, with many key players playing hurt or not at all. However, the depth in the trenches and linebacker likely means fresher players for longer stints of time, which could accumulate more tackles for a loss compared to playing starters more snaps, with them wearing down in the second half of games. FSU will play a few teams with some awful offenses. I don’t expect much from Southern Miss, Boston College, Virginia Tech, Syracuse, North Alabama. They would need to average eight per game to reach 95 in 12."

Yessir! I called this(although I said in 12 games) with the uptick in tackles for a loss from Patrick Payton and the linebackers.

I think we indeed saw more well-executed blitzes from Adam Fuller resulting in tackles for a loss. FSU finished with 96 tackles for a loss this season, the most since the 2013 season (98 in 14 games).