Seminoles Chant

EJ Manuel Says FSU Offense Harder to Learn than Buffalo Bills'

Jimbo Fisher is fast developing a reputation as an NFL quarterback guru. Despite the massive bust that was Jamarcus Russell, Fisher's last three starting quarterbacks have all been picked in the first round of the draft, Russell, Christian Ponder and most recently EJ Manuel by the Buffalo Bills.

Manuel recently finished his first organized team activities up in Buffalo and met with the press afterwards. He had some interesting things to say about how he's learning the offense up there.

"I've done great. The learning curve for me is a lot shorter simply because of what I had at Florida State," Manuel told Sirius XM NFL Radio. "[FSU's offense is] more complex and a little bit harder to catch on and learn. This offense is very simple. I've done a great job with it."

Now is that more of an indictment on the Bills or could that actually be an issue at Florida State?

It could be that it's way too early for him to have any concept of just how complicated the Buffalo offense is or isn't. Regardless, I'm sure it can't make the Bills coaching staff feel all that great that their new quarterback, the man they hope will be the face of the franchise, basically just told the world they're being out-schemed by a college coach. 

Manuel did clarify a little bit, "It's a true West Coast-type progression offense. That's really what I wanted when I was coming through the pre-draft process. I wanted something that I could just go in and say 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, check it down and run it. That's it, it's that simple. I love it."

But aside from the fact that- at least according to Manuel- it's easier to be the quarterback of the Buffalo Bills than to run a Jimbo Fisher offense, that doesn't necessarily mean Buffalo's coaches are drawing up plays on construction paper with crayons and magic markers either. Simpler doesn't necessarily mean worse. 

And that's where we pivot to Florida State.

First of all, when I first read that EJ Manuel said, "the funny thing is it's easier to learn [Buffalo's offense] than the offense I had at Florida State," my take was that he would have never made a comment like that at FSU.

Manuel has been noticeably looser in months following the end of his career at FSU. A big reason for that could be that Fisher runs a program a lot like he runs an offense. Much like Nick Saban (whom Fisher coached under at LSU), Fisher controls almost every aspect of the program at Florida State. From the seating arrangements at team meals to the required garnet polo at player interviews, no detail is beyond the notice of Fisher- especially the things players say to the media.

Florida State's offense being harder to learn than an NFL offense shouldn't really even be all that surprising. In fact, I doubt that's the only college offense like that. The question is whether that's actually a good thing.

It is in a lot of ways, it prepares players for the NFL better on both sides of the ball. Offensive players learn a complicated system that requires a lot of them physically and mentally on every play. More than that, they learn how to learn a complicated system, which is something they'll have to do again in the NFL (except maybe in Buffalo). Defensive players also benefit from practicing regularly against an offense that is highly nuanced and complex.

But at the same time, a complicated system is a tool for (most) players on an NFL trajectory. But not every player is on that path. Not every player is capable of that. And certainly not every team that wins a championship consists of just those kinds of NFL-made players.

Even in the NFL, not every player is capable of functioning in a complicated system. Ever seen a player that just couldn't make it work on one team sign somewhere else and absolutely explode? It happens most often with wide receivers and the biggest reason is that they got into a system that either fit them better or- more often- one that was less complicated and just let them go make plays.

In college, unless a guy can transfer the way that typically manifests itself is that a highly-touted recruit comes in and does nothing. There are countless stories of athletic guys with all the measurables that make lots of plays in practice and then can't make it happen on Saturday.

In a lot of those cases the common denominator is that the scheme is just too complicated. 

You can coach them up, scheme yourself to death and try to do everything in your power to win the game on paper. But once the stadium fills up and the ball gets kicked off, it's about who makes plays. And if some of your best athletes can't make it on to the field because they can't get the system, you're going to have some issues.

I'm not saying that's the case at Florida State. 

But comments like Manuel made last weekend lend themselves to the perception that it may be. And for every smart, talented kid that is attracted by that, there's going to be others that are turned off. 

More than a few NFL scouts commented during the draft process that at FSU, for all his talent, EJ Manuel looked constrained at times. That there were moment where it looked like Jimbo Fisher had really gotten inside Manuel's head. 

EJ Manuel is one of the brightest young men you'll ever talk to. He graduated FSU with his masters, he'll succeed off the field if he doesn't succeed on it. But it's possible he never flourished at FSU- at least in the way many people hoped he might when he came to campus a highly-touted recruit out of Virginia Beach five years ago- because FSU's offense is just too complicated.

If Manuel has a lot of success in Buffalo that question could be worth re-examining.

Of course Jameis Winston could also show everyone that the problem was entirely Manuel's by then too.

 

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Four Seminoles Earn All-ACC Baseball Honors

The ACC announced their all-conference teams earlier today, just a few days ahead of the conference tournament in Durham, and four Seminoles were honored for their contributions to the Seminoles' 2013 season.

Scott Sitz was Florida State's lone first team all-conference player. The senior RHP was superb for the Seminoles all season going 9-1 in 13 starts with a 1.66 ERA. With the honor Sitz now makes it 20 consecutive seasons that Mike Martin's teams have had at least one player earn first team all-conference honors, dating back to 1994.

Sitz has established himself as a fan favorite at Florida State. On Saturday, during Senior day, fans donned fake mustaches in honor of his trademark Nacho Libre mustache. The Sitzstache, as he's been dubbed, is currently on pace to finish with the lowest ERA of any Seminole starter since 1995 (Scooby Morgan).

Also honored were Luke Weaver, DJ Stewart and Stephen McGee. All three were named second team all-conference. 

Weaver has been a revelation for the Seminoles this season. Originally a mid-week starter, he moved into the weekend rotation when Mike Compton was lost for the year to Tommy John surgery. By mid-year Weaver had pitched well enough to earn the vaunted Friday night spot in the rotation. Brandon Leibrandt had occupied that spot since the beginning of last season but Weaver doesn't seem to have any intentions of giving it back now that it's his.

The sophomore went 6-2 with 2.08 ERA in 14 appearances (12 starts). When he was on, he was lights out, striking out a team-best 91 batters in 78 innings of work while walking just 16 and holding opposing teams to a .218 average against him.

Stewart, a true freshman, has become one of the Seminoles' most reliable bats in just his first year. He hit a team-best .328, belted four homers and drove in 51 runs.

Stephen McGee, the team's veteran leader, is a Johnny Bench award finalist (given annually to the nation's best catcher). McGee batted .299 with eight home runs and 45 RBI's. He also lead the team with a.462 on-base percentage.

But the bigger contribution he made- and one that isn't as obvious in the stats- is his work behind the plate. Despite missing Compton (considered by many to be the team's top starter), McGee helped the Seminole pitching staff to post the lowest team ERA (2.68) in the 34 years Mike Martin has been the head coach.

Notably missing? Marcus Davis. The junior OF/DH has an extremely interesting story, but also had an extremely good case to be made for why he should have been selected too.

Davis hit .312 this season, good for fourth on the team, but he lead the Seminoles in hits (63), runs (53), home runs (9) and RBI's (52). After starting his collegeiate career at LSU, Davis left the program, went to community college and then enrolled at FSU this past Fall. 

He exploded for the Seminole offense this year. Without his bat, the loss of Justin Gonzalez- not to mention losing so much from the year before- could have crippled Florida State's lineup. Instead, Stewart, McGee and Davis were able to form a potent middle of the order. 

McGee and Stewart were both honored for that, Davis deserved to be.

Florida State wrapped up the Atlantic division on Saturday and will play a tune-up game with Coastal division winner (and the number one team in the country) UNC later today before they get to square off with Buck Farmer and Georgia Tech on Wednesday morning for the start of the ACC tournament.

I'll have more baseball coverage coming up all week, keep checking back.

 

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(Photo courtesy of Ryan Syrkus)

Seminoles Clinch ACC Atlantic with 6-1 Win Over Clemson

Florida State clinched the Atlantic division of the ACC for the seventh year in a row on Saturday afternoon with a 6-1 win over Clemson during Senior Day at Dick Howser Stadium.

Starting pitcher Brandon Leibrandt was steady and the Seminole offense provided more than enough run support to help Florida State take the series and the division, as they captured a two-seed in next weekend's Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Durham, NC.

"Those guys deserve all the credit," said head coach Mike Martin of his team. "You go to NC State, you lose the first game, you've got to win two to give yourself a chance. You come home, you lose the first game [to Clemson], you win the second one to give yourself a chance and you win the third one.

"That was a very interesting baseball game that was just played, we got a couple of key hits but no question the key to the game was the sixth inning."

Clemson wasted no time putting the pressure on Leibrandt. Despite just four batters coming to the plate in the top of the first, Clemson worked counts and set the pace early.

Maleeke Gibson lined the third pitch of the game down the rightfield line for a double and moved up on a productive out by the Tigers' two hitter, 2B Steve Wilkerson. Steven Duggar, the Clemson leftfielder, singled through the right side of the infield to score Gibson the next batter.

But the Seminoles evened the game in the bottom of the second on a one-out double by SS Giovanny Alfonzo. After 3B Jose Brizuela laid down a bunt for a basehit, Alfonzo roped a 2-0 pitch over the third baseman's head and down the line to the corner in left, scoring Brizuela from first.

An inning later the Seminoles pulled ahead behind a few Clemson mis-haps and some opportunistic base-running. After LF DJ Stewart singled to start the inning he charged hard into second, forcing the second baseman to fumble with the ball and miss the tag. Florida State's three-hitter, C Stephen McGee singled to move Stewart to third with no outs for DH Marcus Davis.

Davis had battled Clemson pitcher Zack Erwin in his first at-bat and timed his fastball. In their second meeting, Erwin tried to stay away from Davis with the fastball but was forced to come in on him when he fell behind 3-1 and Davis roped it to right to score Stewart and give FSU the lead.

That was also it for Erwin, who left the game after giving up three runs on six hits in two-plus innings of work. He was replaced by Jonathan Meyer who let in the other run Erwin was on the hook for when John Nogowski doubled on a strange play to third to score McGee and make it 3-1.

But Florida State failed to press the advantage further and that almost came back to bite them a few innings later.

After forcing Leibrandt to throw 75 pitches in his first four innings, Clemson relented a little and gave him a pass with an eight-pitch fifth. They turned the heat back up to start the sixth inning though, stringing together a couple of singles with no outs to knock him from the game. Leibrandt finished the day having pitched five-plus innings, given up nine hits and an earned run while walking two and striking out three.

LHP Billy Strode came in to replace him and immediately allowed CF Thomas Brittle to drop a bunt and load the bases.

"A lot of times you bring a guy in [to] that situation and he's like a deer in headlights," said Martin. "Billy took the ball, the guy put down a perfect bunt and all of the sudden it's bases loaded.

"Billy just took the bull by the horns though."

Strode buckled down and got the next hitter, LF Tyler Slaton, to strike out looking before inducing a shallow pop-fly from PH Jay Baum for the second out of the inning.

With the bases still full and two down, Strode worked ahead of Wilkerson in the count before getting him to line out softly to second, allowing the Seminoles to escape the inning with their lead in tact.

"The situation itself is not what you want to come into," joked Strode. "But the opportunity they gave me was pretty big and to come out of there with no one scoring, that's big."

In the bottom of the 6th the Seminoles added a little insurance. Brizuela singled to left-center to lead the inning off and Alfonzo reached after getting plunked. John Sansone moved both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt down the third baseline. 

Then with one out, Seth Miller broke the game open on a 1-2 pitch that he lined up the middle for a two-RBI single. 

"The guy left a changeup over the plate and I was able to stay inside of it, drive it up the middle," said Miller, who before the game participated in FSU's Senior Day festivities. 

In the top of the 7th, trailing 5-1, Clemson squandered a chance to cut into the Seminole lead when Boulware was gunned down at third by Jameis Winston following a Shane Kennedy single. Rather than have two on with one out, Clemson had a man on first with two down and Florida State got out of the inning a few pitches later on a fielder's choice.

A wild pitch allowed Marcus Davis to score in the bottom of the 7th to make it 6-1 before Strode came out and worked a perfect 1-2-3 eighth.

He worked the ninth for Florida State on Saturday too. The sophomore went four strong for the Seminoles, giving up just four hits and no runs while striking out a couple and holding the Tigers without a walk over that time.

FSU will play a one-game non-ACC exhibition against UNC in Chapel Hill before heading to Durham for the ACC tournament next weekend.

 

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(Photo courtesy of Ryan Syrkus)

Andrew Wiggins Picks Kansas, Twitter Explodes

Andrew Wiggins is widely regarded as the best recruit in years. The 6-8 Canadian forward who most recently played ball at Huntington Prep (WV), has also been an unknown quantity on the recruiting trail for months.

Wiggins remained tight-lipped on his intentions through the end of the recruiting process. After narrowing down his options to four finalists, he left the coaches and fanbases of each of those schools dangling for weeks while he enjoyed several high school All-Star events and the end of his school year.

On Tuesday he finally ended the speculation and chose Kansas.

That left many Florida State fans feeling the hurt. Both of Wiggins parents attended Florida State, his father was a star basketball player himself and his mother ended up being an Olympic track athlete. Also working in Florida State's favor was Wiggins' friendship with G Xavier Rathan-Mayes. 

The two players grew up together, their fathers played at Florida State together and they had long talked of playing together in college. Rathan-Mayes was already signed at FSU.

But Wiggins went his own direction on Tuesday, picking Bill Self's Kansas Jayhawks over the Leonard Hamilton's Seminoles for what will likely be his lone college season.

Things started to look bleak for Florida State early in the week when XRM tweeted that he had no idea where Wiggins was headed, and indicated he didn't have much influence over that decision.

Then about 15 minutes before the decision, another tweet went out that Wiggins had just informed his parents of his choice. That was essentially the nail in the Florida State coffin. The decision to not tell his parents until the last minute could mean very little, but it could also indicate that he wanted to avoid being talked out of his own decision.

Surmising that Wiggins parents may have wanted to see him attend their alma mater, keeping them in the dark until the end kind of gave the indication his choice may not have been their first pick for him.

A few minutes later he was a Jayhawk.

Beyond the family ties and XRM, there wasn't much reason for Wiggins to come to Tallahassee if you're being objective about it. While Kentucky, UNC and Kansas have all had major college basketball success, FSU's program is far less established nationally.

While the other three schools have a basketball-first mentality in their athletic programs, FSU is a football school. As the football team finishes work on its brand new, state-of-the-art multimillion dollar indoor practice facility, The Leon County Civic Center still sits in serious need of upgrades and renovations. 

Short of the quixotic desire to bring FSU a basketball title, Wiggins is far better served heading to Kansas to play his year of college ball.

FSU meanwhile has some questions facing its basketball team. Despite a solid recruiting class that features Rathan-Mayes and F Jarquez Smith, RS SR F Terrance Shannon is rumored to be headed to VCU for his final year of eligibility and JR G Terry Whisnant is also seeking a transfer. 

Even with Michael Snaer graduating, the Seminoles have a decent group of players coming back, but would be seriously hurt by the loss of Shannon inside.

Getting Wiggins would have been the magical duct tape to fix some of the problems that a young, still somewhat inexperienced Seminoles team could face in a brutal Atlantic Coast Conference schedule next season- especially without a veteran presence like Shannon's. 

But now, some of those question marks seem to loom larger than ever...

 

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How Much of a Factor Did James Coley's Departure Play With Matthew Thomas?

If you haven't had a chance to check out the reporting done by Manny Navarro earlier today on Booker T. Washington LB Matthew Thomas asking for his release from FSU, read it here.

One facet of Thomas' request that didn't get a lot of attention in Navarro's write-up was the departure of one of the key cogs in Thomas' recruitment to Florida State, offensive assistant James Coley.

In recruiting, you're not always recruited by your positional coach in college, oftentimes knowledge of a community or geographic area dictates which coaches will pursue which players. When Coley departed Florida State it was a coup for the University of Miami because of the strong south Florida ties the Hurricanes were gaining.

Not only did Miami get one of the best South Florida recruiters in the nation, they did it at the expense of one of their rivals. Coley was a closer at Florida State. 

You saw the first signs of the impact on National signing day when Stacy Coley (no relation)- a player many figured was destined for Tallahassee- opted to stay home and sign with the U.

James Coley also helped recruit Matthew Thomas.

Behind a strong sales pitch from the former FSU Offensive Coordinator- and coupled with the fact his brother is at FSU- Thomas made a last-minute decision to sign with the Seminoles in February.

But when he came to campus for a visit, things felt different.

"I always had [FSU] high because of the recruiting situation. Coach Coley. My brother was up there," Thomas said. "But when I got up there I saw it wasn't for me."

Translation: The person Thomas built the closest relationship with at the school was now gone and he wasn't sure he'd made the right decision. 

It was an interesting combination of factors that got the 6-3 205-pound LB to this situation. He was still undecided come national signing day but a scheduled TV appearance on ESPN had set a deadline and he had to make a call. His mother liked FSU, time was running out, so he signed.

Then he had time to think about it and the doubts started to creep in.

Now keep in mind this is still a young man, a teenager. Nobody is especially decisive at that age. But Thomas seems very certain he doesn't want to be at FSU. He told Jimbo Fisher he has no intentions to report when that day comes and he wants a full release- though at this point he has yet to hire a lawyer.

He cannot go to Miami (not that he was ever that high on the U to begin with). FSU has the right to decide whether to release him at all and also where he can transfer without penalty. He wants to go to Georgia or USC. Being that both of those schools are in other conferences in other states, that could potentially happen.

But the Seminoles aren't going to just give up without a fight either. FSU intends to try and come to South Florida to smooth things over. If anyone in their athletic department comments I'll update you with it here, but for now, this is a pretty bizarre situation and it may still get weirder.

 

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(Special Thanks to Manny Navarro for additional quotes)

Seminoles Hold Off Knights 4-2 in Series Opener

With graduation ceremonies commencing on the other side of campus and many of their teammates and classmates set to finish college, Florida State (37-9) looked noticeably distracted as they committed a number of errors and blew a two-run lead in the 8th inning before pulling out a 4-2 win over the University of Central Florida. 

"That was one of those [ballgames] that we got key hits," said FSU manager Mike Martin. "Yeah, we made some mistakes but we will strive to improve on them. But it was a good win. We did a few things right in the 8th [inning], I'm just proud of our ballclub."

Luke Weaver and Jameis Winston paced Florida State early on, but sloppy play and mental gaffes allowed Central Florida to claw their way back into the game and very nearly steal one late.

Fortunately for the Seminoles, Senior C Stephen McGee came through when they needed it most.

"There's no way I could have thought he would hit a home run in tonight's conditions," joked Martin. "I could not have hit a three-wood out of here tonight. That wind was really coming in and Stephen, I mean that takes exceptional power and it couldn't have come at a better time for his team."

With a 2-1 count and the Seminoles locked into a tie game just moments after squandering a lead in the top of the 8th inning, McGee crushed a ball over the leftfield wall to deliver the game to Florida State for good. It was just another example of the senior leader coming through in the clutch for the ninth-ranked Seminoles.

"I got a fastball. I went up there just trying to see the ball deep and hit it right back up the middle," said McGee. "He just left a fastball on the inside corner and I just turned on it."

Luke Weaver was excellent for the Seminoles on Friday night, working both sides of the plate and coming right after the UCF hitters on his way to one of his best outing of the season.

The sophomore from DeLand threw 99 pitches over seven strong innings, striking out nine, walking one and giving up six hits while holding the Knight offense scoreless. It was another lights out performance for the Seminoles' ace.

"It was a little shaky at first," said Weaver. "But then I settled down, the fastball was there most of the game and then later in the game the slider was going for strikes, that felt good. That changeup was there consistently throughout the whole game."

"Luke Weaver was outstanding," added Martin. "He pitched beautifully."

Jameis Winston produced the first run of the game with a single and some extremely aggressive base-running in the bottom of the 2nd. After dropping the ball in front of the rightfielder, Winston rounded first hard and put UCF RF Erik Hempe on the spot. The throw came in behind Winston- to first base- and the 6-4, 220-pounder easily took second on the play.

"That's one of my all-time favorite plays in baseball," said Martin. "He literally walked to second, it was just beautiful baseball. J-Boo can think on his feet, let's just put it that way it. It's a beautiful, beautiful thing. He's a baseball player."

The next batter, 2B John Sansone, hit a hard grounder to short, but Winston dallied in the basepath, dodging the ball at the last possible moment and causing the Knights' shortstop and thirdbaseman to collide as they grasped for it. Winston trotted into third and Sansone reached first on what was ruled a single.

Winston continued to press the issue on the basepaths moments later when he broke home and scored the game's first run as UCF threw down to second to catch Sansone stealing.

An inning later the Seminoles pushed their advantage to two runs after Marcus Davis and Jose Brizuela manufactured a little offense of their own. After walking and stealing second, Davis scored when Brizuela roped a two-out liner to right-center to make it 2-0.

That was all the support that Weaver needed, but things got dicey as soon as he left the ballgame. Billy Strode came on to start the 8th and sandwiched an out between a single and a walk to put two Knights on with one out. Gage Smith relieved Strode, but just as quickly gave up a run-scoring single to LF Parker Webster that cut the lead to 2-1.

Seminole closer Robby Coles came on with one down and two on as Florida State clung to their one-run lead and quickly got ahead of 1B James Vasquez 1-2, but ran a fastball too far inside and hit him to load the bases. That brought 3B Austin Johnson up to the plate, he stood stoicly as a close 1-2 fastball sailed past him for a ball but was rung up a pitch later when he didn't offer at another ball near the zone.

DH Erik Barber worked the count more successfully the next batter when he drew a walk to tie the game and erase Weaver as the pitcher of record. Coles managed to strike out 2B Bret Gordon the very next hitter, but the damage was done, Florida State's lead erased.

The tie score didn't hold for long though. Four pitches to be exact. 

Just moments after the tying run walked home in the top of the 8th, McGee drove the fourth pitch of the inning, a 2-1 offering from RHP Spencer Davis, over the leftfield wall to give the Seminoles the lead back, 3-2.

"I wasn't positive about that wind," admitted McGee. "I don't want to say I was for sure I got it off the bat, but I mean off the bat I felt really good about it and it got out."

The Seminoles tacked on one more in the bottom of the 8th just for good measure. John Nogowski drew a walk, stole second, advanced on a throwing error and then Sansone drove him in on a hard grounder to make it a two-run Seminole advantage.

Coles stayed on to work the ninth and pick up his third win of the season.

 

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(Photo courtesy of Ryan Syrkus)

Clint Trickett Headed for West Virginia

After asking for and receiving a release from his scholarship following Florida State's Spring practice, Clint Trickett will transfer to West Virginia where he will compete to replace Geno Smith at quarterback next year.

Trickett is set to graduate this weekend and under NCAA rules is not required to sit out a season before resuming his career. As such he has two years of eligibility remaining and could potentially start for two seasons for the Mountaineers.

Trickett's ties to West Virginia are many. He was born in the state, his father coached at the school and he has a very good shot to be the team's starting quarterback heading into the Fall.

At Florida State Trickett's issue was less about 2013 and more about beyond. With Jameis Winston impressing in practice and during the Spring game, Trickett may have held him off at the start of the 2013 season but keeping Winston seated for two years while Trickett played out his junior and senior seasons would have been extremely difficult.

Trickett is not the kind of QB who is going to turn pro early and as the fans made it more and more known who they preferred, you can't blame a young man for reading the writing on the wall and making a decision that would put him in a better situation.

West Virginia seems like a good fit for the 6-3 185-pound QB. If he can beat out junior Paul Millard and redshirt freshman Ford Childress he could have a chance to pilot a Big 12 offense for the next two seasons.

In 17 games at FSU Trickett completed 62.3% of his passes for 947 yards 7 TD's and 4 picks. 

 

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(Photo courtesy of Ryan Syrkus)

Watson, Carradine Among Seminoles Hoping to Be Taken Tonight

Last night as the first round of the 2013 NFL draft kicked off three Seminoles heard their names called and realized their NFL dreams. EJ Manuel went first to the Buffalo Bills at 16. Just a short while later Bjoern Werner and Xavier Rhodes went back to back when they were picked 24th and 25th by the Colts and Vikings, respectively.

But as the first round wound to a close, a couple of Seminoles that were hoping to be day one selections were left waiting another night to finally be drafted.

Both Menelik Watson and Tank Carradine had an outside shot to climb up into the back of the first round heading into the start of Thursday night. Early on it seemed more than likely that Watson wouldn't have to wait long.

A run on tackles- including three in the first four picks of the first round- had many believing that Watson would easily find a home by the end of the night. The Manchester-born offensive tackle is still somewhat raw, having only played a season of JuCo ball and one year at Florida State. But his athleticism, size, work ethic and intelligence have many teams extremely interested in him as a project player. 

After attending Marist on a basketball scholarship, Watson made the switch to football where he had a mercurial rise as both a juco prospect and then a pro prospect. What really separates Watson is his punch off the snap. As a former boxer, he is absolutely vicious and oftentimes can knock the wind out of an end or a linebacker before they can even get the jump on him.

Tank Carradine- who faced Watson in practice on a daily basis last season at FSU- characterized Watson's playing style as brutal and said he physically manhandles you if can't avoid his punch.

Carradine is the other Nole left waiting to be selected after Thursday night. Had the 6-5 270-pound end not blown out his knee against UF last November he would have likely been one of the first defensive linemen taken this year. 

Instead he's still waiting.

Carradine is a coach's dream. He went the junior college route too, something he credits with helping him calm down and focus on what was important to him- football. So he arrived at Florida State and over the next two seasons was as opportunistic as anyone, using every snap he could get to harrass quarterbacks and ballcarriers in the backfield. He racked up 16.5 sacks in two seasons, but never started a game until early in his senior year. 

As a senior Carradine was every bit as talented as Bjoern Werner, matching him sack-for-sack while leading Florida State in tackles until his injury. Seminole teammates credit Werner for being a technician, Carradine on the other hand was simply known as a beast. He is strong (tossing up 32 reps on the bench at his pro day) and he plays with rage. A lot of it.

Carradine's pass rushing repertoire will need development, he could benefit to add a move or two and become more well-rounded as a true pass-rusher. But the strength and brutality he plays with should help him early on as he develops that skill set. Carradine is very strong against the run and he is an above-average pass rusher with the potential to grow in that capacity.

He is also one of the hungriest guys in this draft.

He was hungry before the season when he was fighting to prove FSU had more talent on the D-Line than just Brandon Jenkins and Bjoern Werner. And if the success of being named All-ACC first team at the end of the season allowed any complaceny to creep in, it was stamped out when he was injured and saw his stock plummet.

Carradine has had to climb up NFL draft boards twice. Once during the season and once after his injury. On Friday night the whole process should finally come to an end for him as he is picked early in round two.

There are several other Seminoles hoping to get that phone call and hear their names announced tonight as well, but guys like Lonnie Pryor, Vince Williams and Everett Dawkins are more likely to end up going in rounds 4-7 on Saturday afternoon than in rounds two or three today.

Saturday should be a very busy day for the Seminoles with potentially as many as ten players hoping to gets picked on the final day of the draft.

I'll have more updates throughout the day and on into the evening. Keep checking back.

 

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First Round Recap: Three Seminoles Go in Round One

As the NFL draft is wont to do, the first quarterback to hear his name called on Thursday night surprised people. Dropped more than a few jaws.

As EJ Manuel- and not Geno Smith or Matt Barkley- walked across the stage at Radio City Music Halland grabbed a Buffalo Bills jersey as the first QB picked in the 2013 NFL draft, everyone was a bit shocked.

Well, almost everyone.

“It wasn’t a very big surprise [to me],” said Manuel moments later. “I knew there was an opportunity for me to go early in the draft, I knew teams that needed a quarterback were very interested, it was just a matter of what happened that day.”

A lot of things happened.

After a run on offensive linemen, Buffalo was able to trade down with St. Louis- who came up to select WR Tavon Austin in front of the Jets at 8.

The move sent Buffalo back to 16th, where they felt comfortable selecting the 6-5 237-pound QB given what else was available and the team's needs.

Manuel was the first Seminole taken in the first round since 2011, The last ‘Nole to earn that distinction was the man Manuel replaced at FSU, QB Christian Ponder who went 12th overall to Minnesota that year.

As the Seminoles’ starter, Manuel finished his career with a 25-6 mark including a 2-0 record against the University of Miami. He is the most accurate passer in Florida State history, second all-time in the ACC. He threw for 7,736 yards, 47 touchdowns and 28 interceptions in his time at FSU.

A little less than an hour later the second Seminole taken in the first round was defensive end Bjoern Werner who went 24th to Indianapolis. The 6-4 255-pound DE became the highest drafted German player in NFL history when he heard his name called.

The junior notched 23.5 sacks in three years at FSU including an ACC leading 13 in 2012. The Colts will look to him to replace Dwight Freeney- who was let go this past offseason.

Xavier Rhodes was selected by the Vikings with the very next pick, 25th overall. Rhodes drew comparisons to Dwayne Bowe as a receiver coming out of Miami Norland but was moved to corner shortly after arriving in Tallahassee and quickly grew into one of the top defensive backs in the country.

In three seasons at FSU Rhodes had 8 interceptions and 140 tackles. He was first team All-ACC in 2012.

The three Seminoles taken on Thursday night marked the first time since 2006 that FSU had multiple first round picks. They had four that year. That was also the last time Florida State won the ACC prior to their 2012 campaign.

This was just the fifth time in Florida State history that three or more Seminoles were selected in the first round of the draft.

FSU could have as many as five or six players taken Friday during rounds two and three. I'll be back in the morning with a preview of day two as well as more coverage of the draft throughout the course of the evening. Keep checking back.

 

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Miami Norland Alum Xavier Rhodes Goes 25th to the Minnesota Vikings

After waiting through half the first round for the first Florida State Seminole to be taken in the 2013 NFL Draft, two went back to back as the draft rolled into its final hour on Thursday night.

Just minutes after Bjoern Werner was selected by the Colts- in the process becoming the highest drafted German player in NFL history- Xavier Rhodes went to the Vikings with the 25th pick.

Rhodes- the third and final Seminole taken on Thursday- is a 6-2 220-pound corner out of Miami Norland who the Vikings hope will shore up their secondary in the pass-happy NFC North. Originally a wide receiver, Rhodes drew comparisons to Dwayne Bowe when he was recruited to Florida State and arrived on campus with the belief he would be lining up on offense.

That wasn't the plan though and Rhodes was forced to switch sides and sit for a season to learn. Over the course of his next three years he developed a reputation as a very physical corner that many ACC quarterbacks didn't want to throw against. He tallied 140 tackles, picked off 8 passes and was considered one of the top corners in the country headed into the draft.

The Vikings clearly agreed.

“I’m extremely happy for Xavier,” FSU head coach Jimbo Fisher said. “He made the sacrifice of switching from receiver to corner and will go on to have a tremendous career in the NFL. He was a staple on our defense, really anchoring down that boundary corner spot for such a long time which was a key position for us. He too is another great young man and great representative for Florida State.”

Rhodes benefited from the success of big-bodied corners like Richard Sherman this past season and could potentially grow into a very good corner at the next level. But they key phrase in that sentence is "potentially grow." For such an alpha corner it was troubling that even when Florida State booted Greg Reid at the start of 2012, Rhodes never managed to lock down the field corner job.

Given his size and athleticism, the fact a true freshman and a 5-9 sophomore platooned at the field-corner for most of the Seminoles 2012 campaign is a bit of a question mark. 

But Rhodes also provides plenty of extremely attractive intangibles and played through a number of injuries at Florida State that were not always publicly disclosed but often left you wondering how close to full-strength he was actually at. His toughness will serve him well in the NFL.

At 25, Rhodes is excellent value for a Vikings team that already has Harrison Smith and Chris Cook, but needed to find a replacement for Antoine Smith who signed with Seattle during the offseason.

Rhodes joins Christian Ponder in Minnesota. The two also played together in college.

In fact, Florida State fans without an NFL affiliation now have two interesting candidates in Minnesota and Buffalo. The Vikings have Ponder, Rhodes and Letroy Guion, while Buffalo now has EJ Manuel, Shawn Powell, Nigel Bradham and Zebrie Sanders.

I'll have a Day Two draft preview tomorrow morning as well as coverage for you throughout the day.

Keep checking back.

 

For all the latest Florida State news and update follow Patrik Nohe on Twitter...

Follow @PatrikNohe_MH