FSU football: 5 players who met or exceeded expectations through first six games

Only a select few.

By Kelvin Hunt | Oct 9, 2024

Sep 14, 2024; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Florida State Seminoles defensive lineman Joshua Farmer (5) celebrates after a defensive stop against the Memphis Tigers during the first half at Doak S. Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-Imagn Images / Melina Myers-Imagn Images

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Blake Nichelson-Linebacker

FSU went into 2024 with little to no depth at the linebacker position. The most experienced linebacker, DJ Lundy, entered the transfer portal before returning, and young players like Blake Nichelson would need to take the next step to solidify that position along with players from the transfer portal like Cam Riley. Nichelson has made some young mistakes but has emerged as one of the most productive linebackers in the first six games.

He's second on the team with 30 total tackles. He has 1.5 tackles for a loss. He had a season-high eight tackles in FSU's lone win against California and finished with six total tackles against Clemson last week.

To put that into perspective, Nichelson is on pace to be in the same ballpark for tackles in year two as Kalen DeLoach was in year three. Granted, Nichelson had much better coaching early on compared to what DeLoach received under the former regime.

Nichelson still has a lot of room to grow, but I'm excited to see how he finishes the final six games of year two.

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