FSU's secondary is going to take another big hit this weekend after the first availability report has starting cornerback Ja'Bril Rawls out for Saturday night's game against Stanford.
Rawls has been one of the pleasant surprises on defense this season. He won the starting spot out of camp opposite of Jerry Wilson and is among the team leaders with 35 tackles and an interception. There's no official word about Rawls' injury, but his size and physical play will be missed.
Every FSU Cornerback with 5 or more Run Stops in a game since 2014
— Clay Fink (@clay_fink) October 15, 2025
🍢 Ja’Bril Rawls (2025 Pitt): 5 (6 Total)
🍢 PJ Williams (2014 BC): 5 (5)
🍢 Jalen Ramsey (2014 Citadel): 5 (5)
That’s it. Only 12 FSU CBs have hit that mark in a SEASON in the last 11 years. Dominant day. pic.twitter.com/2XlnEjKc3R
The loss is magnified because Rawls' primary backup, Quindarrius Jones, is out for the season with a shoulder injury and the only cornerback to get defensive snaps last week was Shamar Arnoux, who played a few snaps when Rawls was off the field.
This should finally open up an opportunity for one of the redshirt freshman cornerbacks to see the field — Charles Lester III, Cal Bates or Ricky Knight III. All three players have appeared in several games, mostly on special teams or bench-clearing time against East Texas A&M and Kent State. Now this should be a chance for at least one of them to get some snaps in a competitive game.
​The (injury) hits keep coming for FSU
​There's no sugarcoating the Rawls loss, especially against a team that performs much better in the pass game at home. And that's not mentioning Rawls' willingness to contribute on run defense. Another big part of FSU's ability to be physical on the back end of the defense is safety play and Edwin Joseph's questionable status is highly concerning.
Joseph, Ashlynd Barker and Earl Little Jr. have been FSU's primary safeties this season. Barker missed the Miami game, but returned last week and played about half the defensive snaps. He'll probably have to play the bulk of the starter's snaps Saturday night.Â
The good news is there is some experienced depth at safety with backups Shyheim Brown and K.J. Kirkland both having multiple years of playing time. Brown is a former starter who was beaten out by Barker in camp. This week is a good opportunity for him to continue to re-establish trust with the coaching staff.