Florida State Seminoles Draft Report

The Florida State Seminoles had the most players selected in this year's NFL Draft with 11 players. Those 11 players selected helped the Seminoles break a 3 year draft record previously held by Miami and USC. Florida State has had 29 players selected during this three year span which goes along perfectly with their 29 game win streak. 11 Noles were picked and this infographic the Seminoles sent is even more awesome than it was before. The below picture is from before the draft....

This was the number one thing most Seminole fans were watching and will be a huge recruiting advantage for Florida State moving forward. Seeing how many players have been selected from this team will be on the mind of every recruit trying to make the league. Knowing that FSU has now had a player selected at every single position under Coach Fisher has to be on recruits minds. What an advantage that now belongs to FSU. Some of these players had position changes in college too. That is all development and getting them ready for the NFL. While coaches like Urban Meyer and Nick Saban prepare a kid for college, Fisher prepares them for the NFL. That right there is a huge recruiting advantage against his best competition. This guy has major clout walking into any living room in the country right now...

Where did the Seminoles end up though and when did they get picked up? That is also vital information....

Jameis Winston was picked #1 overall by the Bucs. I have full confidence that Winston will be a succesful NFL athlete. The fact that he went to the local Bucs shoots them up my list of favorite teams. The Bucs are now even with the Baltimore Orioles as my #2 team behind FSU. I am thrilled with the Bucs drafting Winston and thinks he enters a solid situation. Tampa has 2 great receivers, and decent pieces elsewhere. Drafting two offensive lineman with their next two picks, doesn't hurt the former FSU QB by any means.

Cameron Erving was picked #19 overall by the Browns. I was a fan of the Browns safe draft this time and loved their 1st round picking up a Nole and the 2nd best player in the draft IMO. This team did well on draft day. Erving will start from day 1, but the Browns still lack a quality QB.

Mario Edwards was picked in the 2nd round, #35 overall by the Raiders. The Raiders have become an FSU pipeline. Edwards is one of the few Noles that didn't live up to his potential. He was the nation's #1 player coming out of HS and didn't play like it at FSU. In fact, he dogged it on more than one occasion. Edwards mailed it in his last year at FSU and it actually irritated me a great deal. I expected him to drop further. That being said, Edwards carries a lot of talent and I wouldn't be shocked if he dominated as a pro.

Eddie Goldman went lower than expected to the Bears in the 2nd round, #39 overall. Goldman is a tremendous fit for the Bears and should start from day 1. This guy was the 2nd best Nole in the draft and tremendous value in the 2nd round. Should be a stud for the Bears. Other than Winston, I am most confident in Goldman's NFL success, barring injury of course.

Ronald Darby was also a top 50 selection giving the Noles 5. Darby was picked by the Buffalo Bills whom FSU seems to be a pipeline for. This pick was criticized especially by people that thought PJ was the better corner at FSU. I was not one of those people. I thought Darby had more talent all along and was better all-around. However, much like Edwards, I felt like Darby had a disappointing last season.

PJ Williams was selected in the 3rd round, #78 overall by the Saints. I think this is good value at this point, but as I said earlier I think Darby is the better corner and disagree with those that say otherwise.

Tre Jackson was selected in the 4th round, #111 overall by the Patriots. This selection reunites him with their starter at center and last year's 4th round selection Bryan Stork. The Patriots win Super Bowls because of picks like these. As much as I have hated this organization in the past, I must say it is getting difficult. Since the Hernandez murder they do seem to be picking players from the correct FL school now. This is a great spot for Jackson and one of the better picks of the draft by the Patriots.

Every Seminole loved the Jaguars selection at 139 overall in the 5th round. At that point they selected Rashad Greene who is one of the most beloved Seminoles of all-time. There is absolutely 0 Seminoles that don't like Rashad. I booed this selection because I don't think Jacksonville is the best location for Greene and I really wanted him to stay in Tampa. However, Jacksonville worked out great for a Seminole picked in the 5th round last year. Telvin Smith was a huge steal for the Jaguars last year and Rashad Greene will be the same.

Karlos Williams was surprisingly the next selection as he went in the 5th round at pick 155. This was one that caught me off guard because he was one of the borderline guys to get drafted. The Bills came along and snatched this guy up. I'm sure it helped that he was still learning the position and that his brother is a starter for the Steelers. This is a very interesting pick that could go either way, but I like that he will be at the FSU pipeline team and that he is reunited with EJ Manuel. That fact could be fantastic for both of their careers.

My personal favorite non-Winston Nole went next in the 6th round at 194 overall. The Bills came through again to select Nick O'Leary. He fell in the draft because of a torn hamstring in the Rose Bowl and concerns over the size of his arms. This guy shouldn't have fell in the draft though. There is nobody in this draft that plays with more intensity and heart. He finished that Rose Bowl game with the torn hamstring btw. Oh ya, and he got in a crash with a bus once and the bus lost. This guy is simply fantastic and will become a fan favorite in Buffalo just like he was at FSU.

Finally, to finished it off and break the record was Bobby Hart. The tackle was selected with the 226th overall pick in the 7th round. I was starting to get nervous we wouldn't break the record before Hart got drafted. I had him as the least likely of the 12 to get drafted. However, it is quite apparent to all FSU fans that this guy has a lot of potential. We just would have liked that potential to be turned into production more at FSU. He will always hold a special place with us as a National Champion and the guy that broke this record though. That is until we break it again in a few years.

Josue Matias surprisingly to many was not selected. I thought he would be selected late, but was not shocked by him not signing. That being said he found an NFL home as an undrafted FA signing with the Tennessee Titans. Matias was awful in the Rose Bowl and I would have loved him to be more consistent this season, but he shows flashes of brilliance and could put it together for Tennessee.

Hope you enjoyed this Seminole draft wrap-up. Stay tuned for the next several weeks as I go back to every draft of my lifetime and have the teams re-draft based upon what we know today. It has been a very interesting research project so far. Have a wonderful week and stay tuned for the 1987 NFL Re-Draft.

-Noland

Replacing the Drafted Seminoles

This past April, the Florida State Seminoles had 11 players drafted into the NFL. Another (Lonnie Pryor) is looking to make the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent. That makes 12 key Seminoles that have to be replaced. Is it possible that FSU could actually be a better team with all that talent leaving? Let's take a look position by position.

Quaterback
Outgoing: EJ Manuel
Incoming: Jameis Winston

How do the Noles replace a 4 time bowl winner? How about with a former #1 overall QB prospect. You would expect a huge dropoff here, but after the spring game I don't really buy it. Winston beat out the son of one of the coaches to claim this job. A guy that looked very composed in gametime against Clemson and Oklahoma. I think Winston will be fine. If Fisher opens up the playbook and doesn't run such a vanilla offense Winston could actually outperform Manuel. A lot of it depends on the playcalling. All of the wide receivers are coming back, four of five lineman, and two very productive backs. The talent is there from Winston and everyone else.

Runningback
Outgoing: Chris Thompson
Incoming: James Wilder Jr.
Chris Thompson while lightning fast and incredibly explosive was hurt the majority of the last two years. Wilder and Freeman showed flashes of brilliance last year and should take the next step as juniors this year. This could be a very good backfield duo. Wilder looks to be an absolute beast and many are predicting first team All-ACC for the back. If Wilder can play every game like that Clemson game last year, teams better watch out.


Fullback
Outgoing: Lonnie Pryor
Incoming: Chad Abram
Lonnie Pryor is a huge loss for the Seminoles. Pryor was a leader, a playmaker, and an unsung hero. He did all of the little things and was my favorite Seminole the past few years. I am very concerned with how he can be replaced. As worried as I am though, I trust that the talent is there. Wilder could play in a lot of sets the same time as Freeman. Chad Abram could be a very good blocking fullback as well.

Offensive Tackle
Outgoing: Manelik Watson
Incoming: Bobby Hart
Manelik Watson was an incredible talent and an interesting prospect with a lot of upside. Most considered him a project and thought he needed a little more seasoning in college. So of course the Oakland Raiders drafted him because most consider him not ready for the pros. Watson's talent will be missed, but he certainly is a replaceable piece. Bobby Hart has started several games for the Noles in the past and gives the Noles what could be considered a fully returning offensive line. That should give some comfort to the young signal caller for the Noles. The offensive line should be a strength for Florida State and that hasn't been a common theme lately.

Defensive Tackle
Outgoing: Everett Dawkins
Incoming: Eddie Goldman
Dawkins was in a three man rotation at tackle with McAlister and Jernigan. Most people considered Dawkins the worst talent of the group, but he got plenty of time because he was a senior. Now that he's gone, the other two will get even more time and Eddie Goldman will look to be the #3 guy. Goldman is a former 5 star recruit that Warchant considers the #5 most likely Nole to breakout this season. Goldman could likely breakout with increased time and all that talent. The future NFL player looks to make an impact for FSU in 2013.

Defensive End
Outgoing: Bjoern Werner, Brandon Jenkins, and Tank Carradine
Incoming: Mario Edwards, Dan Hicks, and Chris Casher
Brandon Jenkins was considered the best of the group and was even my #1 Seminole heading into 2012 and then he got hurt in game 1. That crushed most Seminole fans including me. However, Tank Carradine filled in and did a great job. Finally, Bjoern Werner proved he clearly deserved to be a 1st round pick. What an amazing group. How can the Seminoles possibly replace that?
They replace it by being loaded at defensive end. FSU is officially becoming DE U. Mario Edwards is a former #1 player in the nation who filled in during the bowl game while Carradine was hurt. Edwards is a monster and no Seminole fan doubts he will be successful, but some are concerned about the other two spots. They shouldn't be though. Dan Hicks is a senior leader and super athletic. Chris Casher is a former All-American and four star recruit. Casher was the #36 player overall in his class.

Linebacker
Outgoing: Nick Woody and Vince Williams
Incoming: Terrance Smith and Telvin Smith
Vince Williams was considered by some the best player in his unit, but Chrisitan Jones was the superior football player and he is coming back for his senior season. Telvin Smith actually started quite a few times last year and got at least even playing time with Nick Moody. With Smith and Jones back this should be a great group. Terrance Smith is a workhorse sophomore that looks to impress. If there is a question in the linebacking corps it is with the younger Smith as he is a bit more unknown.

Defensive Back
Outgoing: Xavier Rhodes
Incoming: Nick Waisome
Xavier Rhodes was one of the best corners in the country. However, it occasionally looked like he took some plays off. I do not foresee that problem with Waisome as I have talked about him in the past. Rhodes is a better player and was the best prospect on FSU's roster last year, but Waisome could have a big year. The Seminoles need Waisome to fill the void left by Rhodes. This is the most key starter on defense for the Noles. If Waisome plays a great corner, FSU likely will have the best defensive backfield in the ACC and one of the best in the country. If he isn't it could be a disappointing season defensively. The rest of the defensive backfield looks great.

Kicker
Outgoing: Dustin Hopkins
Incoming: Roberto Aguayo
Dustin Hopkins was one of the best kickers in the history of college football. Replacing him is a tough task. However, it is possible. FSU replaced the amazing Graham Gano with an even better kicker in Dustin Hopkins. Don't expect that here. Hopkins is so good it would be unfair to expect someone better. Hopkins is an amazing kicker, but his great job replacing Gano gives Noles fans hope. There is hope that Roberto Aguayo can follow in the footsteps of awesome recent FSU kickers.

Overall, I think the Noles can replace all of these great athletes. It is one of the many reasons that I expect FSU to have a big year and possibly be a contender.

-Noland