This 2026 FSU football recruiting class could have been ELITE if Mike Norvell could have ridden the momentum of the 3-0 start after defeating Alabama in the season-opener.
However, the allure of returning FSU to elite status slowly evaporated as the Noles dropped four consecutive games and ultimately finished 5-7, failing to make a bowl game.
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FSU limped to the finish line down the stretch, losing some commits and flipping some three-stars from other bad programs like Syracuse and Kentucky. However, there were no surprise flips on Early Signing Day to garner further embrassment, so that’s a win, I suppose.
FSU signed 32 players on Wednesday, by far the largest high school recruiting class in the Mike Norvell era. FSU has the No. 14 class nationally with a composite average player rating of .8904, which would barely make the cut to be classified as a blue-chip recruit overall in this recruiting cycle. The composite blue-chip player with the lowest ranking is rated .8902.
That per player average ranks No. 20 nationally. Florida is No. 11 (18 commits) and Miami is No. 12 (30 commits)
FSU has 12 blue-chip composite players out of 32 for a 37.5 percent blue-chip ratio.
- Top 100 players: 2
- 101-200 ranking: 2
- 201-300 ranking: 3
- 301-400 ranking: 4
- 401-460 ranking: 1
I cut it off at 460 because that’s where the composite blue-chip rankings end. Here’s where the rest of the class ranks:
- 461-500 ranking: 2
- 501-600 ranking: 0
- 601-700 ranking: 5
- 701-800 ranking: 4
- 801-900 ranking: 1
- 901+ ranking: 6
JUCO Players: 2
The top half of the class isn’t bad, and one of the JUCO players is among the top JUCO players. The two players in that 461-500 range have some potential. Some of the lower-rated guys are offensive linemen, and the offensive line projections are like flipping a coin. Go look at the FSU 2022 recruiting class and the rankings for those guys. Tons of blue-chip players didn’t contribute a thing for FSU from that class.
They filled needs, but there's a lot of projects. They don’t have enough early impact players for this to be anywhere close to an elite class.