Jumbo Fisher (shown above) and his coaching staff has put together one of the best recruiting classes in the country. Photo/Wikipedia
[dropcap]W[/dropcap]ith another recruiting class down for head coach Jimbo Fisher, Florida State lands their fourth top five class in seven years. This is nothing new as coach Fisher has had a top 10 classes every year at Florida State.
This year’s recruiting class is arguably Fisher’s best class at FSU, but it is also a different type of class. It has become normal to see four or five top 25 guys picking up Florida State hats and signing their letters of intent, but corner back Levonta Taylor is the lone five-star in this class.
Florida State already has seven early enrollees on campus preparing to compete for jobs, including the fourth ranked quarterback Malik Henry. Though they only managed one five-star, they loaded up on talented four-stars, bringing in 17 guys to create much needed depth at several positions.
The new signees include a few other headliners besides Taylor and Henry. DE Janarius Robinson stands at 6’4 273 a big four-star recruit, as is 6’3 WR Keith Gavin. The Seminoles also managed to lock down DT Shavar Manuel. The 6’4 289-pound DT was a Florida Gator commit who flipped his decision and will head to Tallahassee in the fall.
THE GOOD: Florida State and Jimbo Fisher did an excellent job with the offensive line and corner backs. FSU has a set of young offensive linemen already, but they now bring in six new big men, all four-stars, who can sit under coach Rick Trickett and develop their game without being thrown on the field too early.
FSU will need to replace Jalen Ramsey, who looks to be a high first round pick in the upcoming NFL draft. They are bringing in three good guys to try and do that. Five-star Levonta Taylor leads the group, but they also have four-star recruits Carlos Becker and Kyler Meyers to consider and add the depth needed.
The Seminoles also secured two kickers. One being three-star Logan Tyler, the other being former kicker Roberto Aguayo’s little brother, three-star Ricky Aguayo.
THE BAD: If you have to search for something negative, FSU finished the day with the second overall class, first according to ESPN. While FSU only managed to sign three defensive backs, it would have been nice to see one or two more. Still, Jimbo seems content with who he got. Other than that, it’s hard to complain. One or two more five-star guys would probably give FSU the best overall class, if you want to find a negative. But seeing as the Seminoles signed 25 of the 38 guys that took an official visit, there really is no bad here. They filled some holes, and added much needed depth across the board.
Jimbo and his staff have proven over and over again they can recruit at the highest level. This is the fourth time in six years that FSU and Alabama have finished first or second in the recruiting battle, which makes the matchup in 2017 that much more exciting.
