Recruiting drama with 3-star defensive end target that OV'ed FSU last week

Florida State football fans are waiting for some recruiting momentum to happen for their 2025 recruiting class. The Seminoles have not secured a commitment since January when four-star defensive end Javion Hilson flipped his pledge from Alabama to Florida State.

There were some thoughts that three-star defensive end target Nicolas Clayton from Buchholz High School in Gainesville, Florida could be choosing the Seminoles today at 3:00 PM. However, that could be changing.

Clayton officially visited Tallahassee for a mid-week trip. He loved the campus and the staff seemed to be all one on board with taking him. However, as we all know, recruiting can be ever-changing and it can be a cold world in recruiting sometimes.

In a weird turn of events, 247Sports’ Tom Loy, Evan Flood, and Brendan Sonnone have all entered a prediction for Wisconsin for Clayton. It was odd considering that he was just predicted to go to Florida State, but things changed on the morning of his decision.

This tells me a couple of things.

The Seminoles' coaching staff feels like they can get better prospects than Clayton. It might sound shallow but Florida State has had a track history of great transfer portal defensive ends and they are looking to change the perception at the position in high school recruiting.

Florida State is heavily involved with four-star targets such as Zion Grady and Jalen Wiggins (UF commit). If the Seminoles feel great with where they stand with both of them and they also think that they can keep Hilson away from flipping to Texas then I am 1000% fine with the decision to navigate away from Clayton.

However, there is always a risk associated with going all in on prospects such as Grady and Wiggins and then striking out on both prospects where you are left with nothing. At the very least, I hope the Seminoles expand their recruiting target board to have backup plans in place if things go wrong.