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

The NFL Draft Starts Tomorrow

With the NFL Draft starting tomorrow, I wanted to give my ten stories I am most going to follow heading into the draft. The seemingly obvious stories like Jameis being picked #1 will not be included. However, before I get into that, if Jameis isn't picked #1 I will be shocked and quite upset with the Bucs franchise. Here are my 10 biggest storylines I will be following heading into draft day.

10) Where do the QBs end up?
We think we know that Jameis will be going #1 to Tampa, but what else happens with the QB position. It is quite intriguing at this time. Does Mariota really go #2? I really want Mariota to succeed, but I have him as about the 4th QB in this class and I just don't see his skills translating to the pros. The two other QBs I have between him and Jameis, Brett Hundley, and Garrett Grayson will be good NFL QBs IMO. I want all these guys to be quite successful which puts me apart from the Winston haters. I like all 5 of these guys, but Winston is heads and shoulders above the rest. I also truly believe that Mariota and Petty are system QBs. Really want to be wrong about those two.

9) Where does my second highest rated player (Danny Shelton) go?
I haven't really gotten to get into it on here, but I love Danny Shelton as a football player. I am probably one of the only guys who has him above Leonard Williams (although I have Williams at 3). Shelton is a former state champ shot putter which just shows the amazing strength he possesses. My favorite quality of his though is that as big as he is and as hard as he is to move, he has incredible quickness. This guy is going to be an All-Pro. Williams has a great shot as well though.

8) Is Todd Gurley the 1st RB off the board and does he go round 1?
Now don't get me wrong I love Todd Gurley's game. While I don't agree with taking a RB in round 1 I would agree that Gurley is the exception to the rule, but only if he is healthy. The guy isn't healthy though. He has been banged up. The last time a RB that was damaged goods was the best back since Adrian Peterson it was Darren McFadden. The Cowboys new RB has had an injury plagued career and hasn't come close to his potential. Gurley and McFadden were very similar in college whether you want to acknowledge it or not. Picking Gurley in this spot is too big of a risk to me. Because of the injuries, I actually have Ameer Abdullah as the highest RB on my board. Abdullah is a late 2nd round pick to me as well. Likely Gurley and Melvin Gordon will be overdrafted and it might not stop there.

7) When do the Clemson defensive players come off the board?
The Clemson Tigers had the #1 defense in college football last season and absolutely shut down Oklahoma in their bowl game. Their highest rated is DE/LB Vic Beasley who can go anywhere from 5th to 15th. Beasley will be a top 15 selection though. One of the more underrated players in this draft in my opinion is DT Grady Jarrett who is projected to go in Round 2. DE Corey Crawford is a projected 6th round draft pick. This defensive line was the strength of Clemson's team last year and could make some NFL teams quite happy.

6) Who is the 1st offensive lineman selected?
Most mocks I have seen have Iowa's Brandon Scherff as the top tackle and a projected pick at #10. 10 seems low to me because there are some quality linemen in this draft. Scherff and Peat are both top 10 players I think and an argument can be made for Le'al Collins as well there. They have similar grades for me and will all be very quality pros. Which of the 3 gets picked 1st will be quite interesting to me.

5) How many defensive lineman go round 1?
The deepest position in this draft is defensive line. Based on grades myself and others have given, there should be a plethora of defensive lineman selected early. 3 of my top 5 players in this class are defensive lineman (Shelton, Williams, and Fowler). I know several others are in the same boat. Add in the aforementioned Clemson studs and FSU's own Eddie Goldman and there are a lot of options early. We haven't even mentioned guys like Randy Gregory either. My prediction is that around 10 defensive lineman go in Round 1. That is about 1/3 of the picks being used up front on defense. My highest rated of this group is Danny Shelton as I stated earlier and my favorite is Goldman.

4) Will the Gators have multiple 1st round picks?
We all know that Dante Fowler is a Top 10 pick, but DJ Humphries is also rated high. There is a very likely chance that the 4-8ers will have two first round picks. I can't really remember a time when a worse team had two first round picks. The 4-8 season wasn't this season, but both players were a part of it. The Gators have been awful in each of the last two seasons.

3) What do the Bucs do outside of the Winston selection?
It is widely believed that Jameis Winston will be the Bucs selection at Round 1, but what do they do after that. This team needs some depth up front on both sides and I hope they take advantage of the new draft format. After selecting Winston it would be nice to see the Bucs trade down in Round 2 and acquire more picks. Seeing Winston with one of his college teammates like Tre Jackson in Round 2 would be awesome. This team has a few needs and one trade down or a trade from next year's draft could really help this thing get turned around. Maybe they can trade next years 1st for the opportunity to get back in the 1st round and come away with Winston and say Andrus Peat. There are a lot of exciting options for the Bucs in this draft after they take Winston.

2) Where do the Seminoles land?
I am very excited to see where the Seminoles end up as 10-11 players are expected to be drafted. Outside of Winston the next highest rated player is Goldman and he will likely be a 1st rounder. Ronald Darby and Cam Erving are also possibilities to go round 1. Tre Jackson will likely be a 2nd round selection with a lot of intrigue. At the end of Day 2 and possibly into day 3 it will get really exciting with my two favorite Noles in this draft (other than Winston of course). Nick O'Leary and Rashad Greene were fantastic Noles and seeing where they end up will be awesome.

1) Do the Seminoles break the record for most players drafted in a 3 year span?
The current record for players drafted in a 3 year span is 28. That record is held by Miami (2002-2004) and USC (2008-2010). The Seminoles have a good chance to break it. During the 2013 draft the Seminoles had 11 players selected. They had 7 more in 2014. That means that they had 18 players selected the last two years. With 10 more this year they would tie the record and with 11 more they break it. See what 29 straight wins will do for you. That #29 is special for the Noles 29 straight wins and 29 draft picks in 3 years.
FSU has 10 players considered locks
Jameis
PJ Williams
Eddie Goldman
Ronald Darby
Cam Erving
Tre Jackson
Mario Edwards
Rashad Greene
Nick O'Leary
Josue Matias (not as convinced about him)
These players would tie the record. Add in Karlos Williams and they break it. Bobby Hart is also considered a possibility to be drafted, but I don't see it happening. Hart was the weak link on the FSU offensive line and seemed to regress each season. It will be exciting to see if the Noles can do it. I think they break it with exactly 11 guys this year for a grand total of 29. These two will certainly help the Noles get there....

Next week I will let you know where all those Seminoles land and if they break the record.
Go Noles!

-Noland

Some Takeaways From FSU-Oklahoma State

I will say above everything else I am happy with the W in last week's game. A lot of this season is going to be about surviving with a W because the Noles are going to be seeing everyone's best effort. Teams will be game planning for weeks to beat the Seminoles. Florida State has to bring it every week and survive the games. This week 1 match-up was against one of the better teams in college football over the past decade. Let's not forget that these Cowboys have competed for National Championships lately and that they are well coached. The Noles also were clearly playing to keep the title and not out to win another one, so where do we go from here.

1) The Florida State Seminoles must play to win.

Last night, the Seminoles played not to lose. This strategy was big before last year in the Jimbo Fisher era, especially on the road. The Seminoles would play not to lose. Now, I love Jimbo Fisher, and think he is a blessing for Florida State, but this team needs to play to win and not play timid. My one criticism of Jimbo in the past has been that he does not always go for the throat away from home. There was no evidence of this type of play last year, but yesterday, it happened. I love Roberto Aguayo as much as anybody, but there were two 4th and less than 2 yards in the 1st quarter when Oklahoma State was on the ropes. Go for the throat in those situations. We punted one and kicked a field goal in the other. Don't give them a chance for life, just go for the throat.

2) We miss Bryan Stork. I have heard that FSU misses a lot of guys, but the biggest loss to me, appears to be Bryan Stork. There were some blocking assignments missed last night despite our veteran offensive line. Those types of mistakes cannot happen again. FSU struggled with pressure more than any other time in the Jimbo Fisher era. This veteran group needs to tighten up and it needs to start with Barron. He must play much better. We struggled to get any push up the middle.

3) The Noles must run the ball better. The running game was not too great last night. Eventhough, the offensive line apparently had the flu, we have got to get a push with our talent up there. Karlos Williams was largely ineffective and he was supposed to start a Heisman campaign last night. That did not happen as he averaged less than 3 yards per carry. Mario Pender looked great though in limited carries. 3 carries for 31 yards and a touchdown is good use in limited opportunities. If Williams can't figure it out, Pender will carry most of the load soon.

4) More Nick O'Leary in our lives. This guy is my new favorite Seminole and he is a matchup nightmare. We did not go to him later in this game, but he was clearly the best matchup for us. I think Winston's tunnel vision may have affected that some, but this guy needs the ball. Use Nick O'Leary as the incredible weapon that he is. He should be a staple of this offense and he makes plays.

5) Winston had Rashad Greene tunnel vision last night. I am not sure what it was, but it can't continue, because it impaired his judgement. Greene is the Seminoles most veteran receiver and their best receiver. He will be in the NFL, he is fantastic. However, you can't focus on one receiver that much no matter how good he is. Especially, when the corner is holding him the whole game. You must go through your progressions and Winston did that last year. The fact that he was so locked on Greene is cause for concern. It is cause for concern not because of Greene, but because of Winston. Greene had a fantastic game and he was one of the stars of it, but Winston should not have forced the ball to him when he did. It could have been a lot worse if Greene wasn't making the plays that he made.

6) Lack of a downfield threat or downfield pass. Oklahoma State refused to respect FSU's deep pass ability and it affected the rest of the game. This was a big difference from last year now that Kelvin Benjamin is gone. It showed that the Cowboys gave no respect to that and that they were more concerned with the short routes. They also much like Winston paid more attention to Rashad Greene than the other receivers. Christian Green broke one loose, but that was the only deep pass of the game. A vertical passing threat has to emerge. I expect that threat to be Travis Rudolph and the one time he did go deep, Oklahoma State respected it which opened Rashad Greene up for a big pass play, but Rudolph only went deep once. As the season progresses, I expect Rudolph to get more PT and Christian Green to get less.

7) Jameis Winston was off and his decision making was not good. It was nowhere near the level of last year and his confidence didn't appear to be as high. For the first time in his Seminole career, he played timid and scared. This is a trend that can't continue. He was too confident in his ability to thread the needle and not confident in his other receivers besides Greene. Not a great game from Winston, but he made a few plays when he absolutely had to, including running for that touchdown.

8) The defensive line is not as good as last year save Mario Edwards. Our interior defensive line is just not as good and FSU misses the big fella. Edwards had a solid game and was getting decent pressure from the outside, but other people up front need to step up. FSU must get better defensive line play.

9) The secondary will be okay. This secondary made a few plays last night, but they also made a few errors. Nate Andrews with the pick 6 was a fantastic defensive plays and one of the best I've seen. That forced fumble from PJ Williams was also fantastic. These guys are the youngest and most talented secondary in the nation. They can be something very special, but they must play focused assignment football. Terrance Brooks and LaMarcus Joyner are no longer here to help them out. The #noflyzone must figure it out on their own. A couple blown coverages because of not knowing the assignment, but the talent is there. Tyler Hunter's interception drop could have been a dagger for Oklahoma State too. You have to catch the ball when it is thrown right to you, offense or defense. Opportunities like that can not be missed. Catch the ball before you think about taking it back for six. I do not expect a repeat of those mistakes and this secondary will be a strength for the Noles going forward.

10) This is still the most talented team in college football. Look at everything that went wrong. Oklahoma State had a better gameplan, executed better, had better QB play, a better running game, and FSU still won. FSU's athletes made plays when they had to make plays. Can't go in with a plan like that and can't let teams hang around in games they should not. A win is a win though and I will take a win. I will also take all this talent. FSU does need to tighten up though.

-Noland