2014-02-05



This is your home for FSU football recruiting coverage. It will be frequently updated over the next 48 hours through National Signing Day.

The newly-crowned national champions are reloading: Florida State is putting together one of the nation's best recruiting classes, including one of the country's top halfbacks and thirteen consensus four-star prospects. Jimbo Fisher and his staff have landed 26 commitments in advance of Signing Day, including 14 players projected on the offensive or defensive line.

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Five new Seminoles are already enrolled and on campus. The highest-rated of FSU's early enrollees is Miami (Fla.) Central High School running back Dalvin Cook, a consensus five-star player. Cook, who is 5'11 and weighs 195 pounds, is ranked as the 12th-best overall prospect in the class and the top prospect in Florida. He picked the Seminoles, flipping from his long-time Florida commitment, and also had offers from Alabama, Texas, Miami, Clemson, LSU, Florida, USC and Texas A&M.

Joining Cook is four-star linebacker Kain Daub, another in-state player. The Jacksonville (Fla.) Sandalwood High product is 6'3, 234 pounds; he is regarded as the No. 4 outside linebacker in the 2014 class and the No. 55 overall player. He picked FSU over the likes of Alabama, Auburn, Florida, LSU, Ohio State and Miami.

Florida State Position breakdowns: QB RB WR TE OL LB DB

Lake City (Fla.) Columbia High School's Trey Marshall is in school already as well. The 5'11, 196-pound safety is a consensus four-star prospect and the No. 13 player at his position. He is also considered the No. 181 overall prospect in the nation. He had offers from Florida, Georgia, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Miami, and was an invite to Nike's The Opening, where he ran one of the fastest times in the 40-yard dash.

Three-star JUCO offensive guard Kareem Are and long snapper Stephen Gabbard have also enrolled early. Are was ranked as one of the mation's top JUCO offensive linemen, while Gabbard is a Tallahassee local product who has been ranked as the third-best long snapper prospect nationally.

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Florida State's top unsigned commitment is Travis Rudolph, a four-star wide receiver from West Palm Beach, Fla. Rudolph, who played high school football at Cardinal Newman High, is a consensus top 6 Florida recruit and top 6 receiver nationally. 247 Sports ranks him as the nation's second-best receiver prospect and second to only Cook in the state. The 6'1, 185-lb. wideout held offers from nearly every significant national program, and chose Florida State over Alabama and Florida. As Bud Elliott writes, Rudolph is faster than he looks:

Rudolph is a playmaker. He does not have elite track speed, though is it good and he plays faster than his times. What he does have, however, is a knack for playing the position, and a smooth, gliding style that makes things happen.

Rudolph is very good after the catch. He has a good idea of the flow of the defense, is shifty and is plenty quick. He really has a nose for the endzone. Rudolph is explosive out of his cuts, and he has very good strength for his size, which will help in beating the press.

The Seminoles are stockpiling talent on the defensive front seven, including a pair of four-star linebackers and three defensive linemen with ratings of four stars.

More FSU recruiting: FSU recruiting board Understanding FSU's recruiting numbers

Top among those is linebacker Jacob Pugh, a Tallahassee native who committed to the Seminoles in May. Pugh, who attends Amos P. Godby High, is a national top 100 prospect with a offer sheet that includes Alabama, Georgia, Florida, USC, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Penn State, South Carolina, Miami, and a host of other top programs.  Elliott is very high on Pugh's abilities as an inside or outside linebacker:

He's wide and long, and can play at 245+ pounds after a year or two in a college strength program. Pugh has the length and strength to take on blocks and hold the edge as an outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense. He is a solid wrap tackler and brings his legs on contact. And he has upside as a pass rusher, blitzing from the outside. Pugh also picks through traffic well when moving from side to side through a defense, and he has plus agility, which I saw when watching him adjust to balls while taking reps at tight end during a summer camp.

Inside linebacker Delvin Purifoy comes to Florida State from Pensacola (Fla.) Catholic High as a consensus top 30 player in the state and top 5 inside linebacker recruit. Florida State beat out Auburn, Kentucky, and Ole Miss for his signature, though he might have received more interest had he not committed to Florida State more than a year before Signing Day.

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The commitment of rangy defensive end Lorenzo Featherson was not expected by anyone. Featherson, who played high school football at Greensboro, N.C.'s Page High, was long thought to be leaning heavily toward Clemson, but the 6'7, 220-lb. pass rusher announced his intention to attend FSU on New Year's Day. He is a consensus four-star recruit, and held offers from Miami, Florida, North Carolina, and Georgia Tech. Elliott doesn't expect him to play early:

Featherston is a bit of a project. He is attractive as an edge rusher because of his quickness off the edge and his length. Featherston is not a player who is expected to contribute early. He must first recover from a knee injury that kept him out of the Under Armour All-America Game, and then gain at least 30 pounds.

Two defensive tackles, Demarcus Christmas and Dexter Wideman, could anchor the Seminoles' future defensive line. Christmas, who comes to Tallahassee from Bradenton's Manatee High School, is one of the ten best defensive tackle prospects in the nation. The 6'4, 287-lb. tackle has been committed to Florida State since October 2012. He also made an appearance on our Class of 2014 All-Name Team. Wideman is Florida State's sole 2014 recruit from South Carolina. The 255-lb. defensive lineman is ranked among the top 5 players in the Palmetto State, and picked the Seminoles over the state's two BCS programs, South Carolina and Clemson, as well as Florida and LSU.

Florida State also has one of the best pairs of tight end recruits in the country.

Trying to hold on -- Bud Elliott, National Recruiting Analyst

Florida State has several commitments it will be watching on National Signing Day to see if they go elsewhere.

Wideman is a real threat to flip to South Carolina, QB/Ath Treon Harris (Miami Booker T.) has visited Auburn, Florida and Miami in recent weeks and Featherston took an unexpected trip to Miami on the final weekend. FSU would like to keep the trio in the fold, but may have to wait until National Signing Day to find out where they'll head. Keeping two of the three would be considered a victory in Tallahassee.

2/4: I am slightly more confident in FSU signing Wideman than Harris. Many people expect Harris is gone, and the question is one of his ultimate destination: UF, Auburn, Miami.

Note: Three-star athlete JoJo Robinson has not been recruited by FSU in recent weeks and is expected to sign elsewhere (likely Arkansas) -- he has just not officially decommitted as of yet.

Top targets

More: Where will the top uncommitted players sign?

FSU is in on a ton of top targets down the final stretch, perhaps more than any other team in the country. Fans may feel like they're back in the Bobby Bowden days waiting for faxes to come in from across the country. Here is a quick rundown on each:

Roderick Johnson: 6'7, 325-pound four-star offensive tackle out of St. Louis who has long favored Florida State over Ohio State. If he doesn't sign with the Seminoles, it would be a big surprise.

Malik McDowell: The 6'7, 290-pound five-star defensive tackle from Michigan likes Michigan State, his parents like Michigan, and Ohio State or Florida State could end up being a school on which they can both agree. 2/4: McDowell's father wants him out of Michigan and away from his friends who aren't athletes and who could distract him from his ultimate goals. I have mixed signals on McDowell. Some Ohio State people are confident, and some really think he is going to Florida State. This might be a true four-team race.

Ermon Lane: The 6'3, 188-pound five-star receiver decommitted from Florida and at this point, it's difficult to figure out if he even has a No. 2 behind Florida State. Lane visited FSU over the final visit weekend and had a blast. It seems like he is just waiting to put on a hat on National Signing Day.

Malachi Dupre: The first or second-best receiver in the country (Josh Malone, Tennessee commit being the other) has a recruitment that is all over the place. He has visited LSU, Alabama, FSU, Ole Miss and UCLA in recent weeks. While he doesn't seem like the typical New Orleans five-star who automatically picks LSU, he is still somewhat of a long-shot to pick any other school but the Tigers, though the feedback he gives after each visit has five schools believing they have a chance. 2/4: Dupre also posted an extremely interesting tweet, perhaps preparing LSU fans for a letdown?

No hurt feelings strictly buisness

— Malachi Dupre (@MalachiDupre) February 4, 2014

Javon Harrison: This explosive athlete out of Lakeland (Fla.) Kathleen committed to Virginia Tech on July 18, but FSU has been working him over the last 10 weeks. The Seminoles have a real shot to flip the 6'2, 200-pound four-star, who wants to be a receiver.

Derrick Nnadi: Can Florida State beat Virginia Tech twice on National Signing Day? If it lands Harrison and Nnadi, it will do just that. Nnadi is a short, stout and very quick four-star defensive tackle out of Virginia Beach, and this seems like a battle between the Hokies and Seminoles.

Lorenzo Carter: Carter is a 6'5, 230-pound five-star defensive end with a ton of potential. Most expect the Norcross (Ga.) prospect to stay home, but Florida and Florida State both have a longshot of landing him. 2/4: I still have no indication that Carter will pick Florida State.

Derrick Kelly: Will FSU have room for Kelly? The late-rising tackle from the Panhandle is high on FSU, LSU and UF, but until the recent news of Ethan Frith's grayshirt (see below), FSU was unlikely to have room for the 6'5 three-star.

How many can FSU sign?

The Seminoles can comfortably sign in excess of 30 players, because several are qualifying risks, and at least one player has already elected to grayshirt, delaying his enrollment until spring 2015 due to an upcoming shoulder surgery.

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