FSU football: Top 15 most important defensive players for 2024 season
By Kelvin Hunt
No. 4 Marvin Jones Jr.-DE
FSU football coaches knew they needed help at the defensive end position after Jared Verse entered the NFL Draft. A lot of work from the 2022 recruiting cycle came to fruition when former five-star defensive end and legacy recruit Marvin Jones Jr. committed to the Noles after entering the transfer portal near the end of 2023. I wrote about how Marvin Jones Jr. could have a similar impact to Jermaine Johnson, moving from the 3-4 defensive scheme to the 4-3 under Adam Fuller.
Jones Jr. has dealt with injuries but has all the tools to continue the FSU run of transfer defensive ends getting molded into first-round NFL Draft picks. It's important for Marvin Jones Jr. to be much more productive than his time at Georgia, and I expect that to happen. His production(or Lolohea's), if lined up opposite Patrick Payton, will prevent teams from giving Payton too much attention(like they did with Jared Verse last season). He'll also need to be stout against the run, as FSU gave up the edge a few too many times last year.