Noles247 Top 40: Players 30-21

pressed oh too late it's already been pressed we are live welcome welcome everybody come in come in I know you've been looking forward to this I've been looking forward to this I'm gonna I'm gonna retweet this on the old socials because today we're gonna be talking about the 40 most important player lists for the Florida state seminal in 2024 and today go to the meat of the sandwich 30 through 21 I am joined by my always my two steady eddes I've got coach AB I've got Kev little and I've got my other recording buddy Dane Draper my know thy enemy brother how you doing man I'm doing good yeah this is like a like a 50% reunion right here or something this feels this is fun it feels good it feels like a nice old pair of socks very comfortable and never lets you down speaking of never letting you down on this episode of on the bench presented by nolles 247 it's also live on YouTube chat n whiskey that's that Brown Sweet juice that will never let you down that is some that's some good Hooch that is some fine fine Hooch from the state of Tennessee we hate their baseball team right now but we'll still drink their liquor it's the best they got that 111 proof that's like the Workhorse but like a I don't know like a very exotic like not just your average Workhorse it's like a Workhorse for the Discerning gentleman they've got like a Founders Edition any purveyor that sells Spirits worth their salt should have Chattanooga whiskey and you should buy it and you should scream at the cashier on the bench as loud as you can as you're purchasing the whiskey there's no way you'll get in trouble and you'll have a fun time and as I always say I don't know if it's what the sponsors want us to say but when you're drinking when you're sipping on a little bit of that fine fine Tennessee Hooch sell your house go crazy it's a sell's market and if you want to use the Turner group especially if you live in Florida they're based out of Central Florida but the arms of that uh that that uh that Turner group octopus they far Outreach just Orange County they reach everywhere it's like that old JJ Rockefeller like oil painting from the 1940s or whatever that's what the Turner group is except way less nefarious and way more helpful they can buy your house they can sell your house they will just help you with any home related questions you may have maybe if they're nice enough they'll do anything related to your home they'll come to your house and watch Homeward Bound with your kids I don't know if they'll do that or not but if you want to buy or sell your house great movie they will help you Tennessee whiskey Chattanooga whiskey Turner group let's get into it Flawless Victory it was something I like those ad reads I put a lot into it I know that we put a lot into this list and I think before we get into it I love the top 40 most important player series because of the rotating cast that we have in addition to us three fuddy duddies Dane we talked about our methodology for our rankings on the last episode with Brendan what about you man how did you approach this this list as the cerebral assassin that you are I think well I think like generally we probably all I mean it's an important so it's a list of important players for the 2024 season but it's important like to right yeah like it's important to the team's success but success in itself is kind of like a subjective term in what you would deem success but I shoot generally a little more maybe a little more than you guys like definitely more than I think AB based on some of his you know ridiculous rankings or something you know um based on the I guess like high upside and um you know ranking some of those guys a little higher I guess that can like individually impact the the ceiling of this team um and their effort to maybe achieve I guess a playoff birth but you know really if you're trying to win a playoff game or something guys that would uh maybe exceed expectations in a realistic sense um that sort of thing but it's yeah it's a lot of factors you're balancing though when you when you look at those factors I feel like you're either one or two camps on what you prioritize more is it like positional importance kind of like an n draft model as far as importance or do you say Talent trumps everything or is yours a chimera of the two a liger if you will I would like to think of my list as a liger yeah um that's as well but I think it's generally um I think there's plenty of physicial importance in there um I definitely factored that in a good deal like I didn't want too many running backs on my list I didn't want too many uh safeties you know ranked high or something like that but I'd like to add you know maybe defensive end and defensive tack will have like the most depth on my you know list up high or something like that as well so I think I I include some of that but also I feel like some of the positions are like defensive end you have uh you're pretty deep with Talent so you know it's totally fair to even on a more Talent based list to have some of those guys High yeah bill says we're doing wins above replace over here we're going deep into the war I'm totally yeah stat nerd City well let's talk about the one position that nobody mentioned in that little monologue let's talk about our number 30 guy that's cotton Fitz Simmons Ryan Fitzgerald the Redemption Arc of all Redemption arcs he's number 30 he's the place kicker and he has turned into one of the best what an unbelievable success story one of the best in the entire country so he's 30 the red seniors 30 by our composite ranking Zack Adam 29 Adam the highest at 18th Brendan 43 totally off the list I feel like that's tful Kev at 39 just squeaks right in Christ D at 23 I had him at 30 right on the right on the dot I feel like that's a great ranking Dan's with me of course he is my friend at 34 and Clay I I hope fit Simmons doesn't see him at practice he might kick him right in the schuts real listen when I did this list last year just for like full like full um disclosure I put the two like starting special teams guys Master Mano and like Fitzgerald 39 and 40 this year I move fits up like nine spots I think he's about as important as a college kicker could be to me and that's why I have him at 30 Adam I'm Gonna Let You Go you had him at 18 and I think you have a cachent argument for this why do you have him so high cuz you notorious L despise special teams I did I did but I think I'm the only one that ranked him last year and I had him like 13 or 14 last year um oh you're just when do you draft him in fantasy I'm in uh a kicker's number one overall every year for sure championships um I don't know I just think that uh I I don't think you're going to be as prolific scoring touchdowns perhaps this year and you're going to have opportunities in the red zone to get points and I think that that's where he comes into play um yeah they just think I feel like you're going to need to get your field goals when those opportunities present themselves because while you're the potentially going to be an explosive offense I don't know how efficient they're going to be at this point so we'll see how that goes but just right now I I mean the good teams typically have good kickers and I think this is going to be a good team and it's important to have a good kicker so there he is I'd say in 18 you consider Fitz Simmons a weapon yeah not just an important guy like he's a legit Kev doesn't Kev says no no no you barely crack Myas what do you think is it just special teams guy that's as high as you could go on him Kev or is there something more do you not trust everything you've seen from Mr Fitzgerald so far no I I trust I trust Fitzgerald I think he's gonna be one of the better kickers in the country um I actually think my point could be summarized in his own stats so if you look at 2022 Ryan Fitzgerald versus 2023 Ryan Fitzgerald they kicked the same amount of extra points and in 2022 he only kicked one less field goal he only attempted one less field goal and he scored 93 points versus 115 points so you're talking about on a season a swing of about 20 points from a below average to a borderline Elite kicker on the season so I mean 20 points sounds like a lot but that's just because I've been watching a lot of B baseball recently I mean a strategic 20 points loses you the Clemson game or loses you the Boston College game but a different way to think about it is if you had lost those 20 points somewhere else it it probably doesn't make that big of an impact you know uh so I don't know for I was probably not generous enough I mean and looking at that you started off real strong and then it's like yeah I probably should have bumped them up way too in talking about a damn kicker I think 30th is I think where he settled is about right I I think 18 is a little high although like how many players are contributing to 20 point swings good point on the season that's what I thought you were gonna make a point of how important he is that 20 point especially when we're talking about potentially like you know undefeated season and stuff like that like 20 points is or three touchdowns essentially is a big deal and you know the effort to go without do we think is gonna have three touchdowns that are important this season maybe not hope not Dan kev's a slippery year can never pen him down he Zig about to zag let's talk about another uh guy who ziggs and zags probably not but I just use that as a segue that's number 29 defensive lineman came in as a defensive end playing a little bit of three technique the transfer from West Virginia tomiwa Doo very very interesting this red search off more 64 278 a very very interesting Prospect where he's going to end up the type of things that he can unlock for you in those pass rush packages Zack had him 18th Adam had him 32nd Brendan had him 27th Kevin Chris Kevin out of 36 Chris neee 38th I had him 26 so pretty close to where ended up Dane just sympatico brother you had him 29 really close and Clay had him 36 this is a guy that I'm interested to see in the rotation and in which rotation he makes the greatest impact Dane you've gotten to see him at practice what have you thought of the way he's integrated himself and where do you think that he will make his greatest impact from the nolles this year yeah I think he was a guy that um I mean like most guys you see him improve over the uh over the course of the spring but it's really interesting I feel like well of course I agree with the placing of 29 that's exactly where I put him but like he really kind of has a blend of a lot of factors that could make him uh more important in this but I I think even his floor is I would argue like in this kind of range too because he will contribute I mean coach are on record of saying like he is the guy that is getting real reps uh at defensive end and on the interior so he's adding depth to both of those sides and I think it's I think it's a bit more of like a bit more up in the air than a lot of people do as far as like where he'll contribute most I think he could definitely contribute like plenty on on the edge rather than just kind of fully transition to the uh defensive tackle room like not a full-time three Tech or something like that um but he could be and I think he's also another reason for him to be valuable on a list like this is he seems to be like a a high upside guy he's pretty young but he's a guy they brought in with some intention of develop into an NFL Talent so you know if he hits early that could be really intriguing too and His Highest upside probably is on the interior so maybe that's why you know I like guys that have the potential to be disruptors that play on the inside and I think with the way what we saw at his film at West Virginia not the best like outside pass rush moves very strong very explosive but the way that he would cross the tackle face I see him as a guy you line up in the three technique that could really create some havoc and I think that could actually help you with some Blitz and some stunt packages atam and I think that you could really confuse the some of those teams that you're playing this year that have strong Interiors of their lines like you know Florida Miami Notre Dain things like that he's a dude that's not a fun not a fun reach for a guard lining up in that three technique what do you think about uh tomiwa yeah first I'm disappointed in myself I should have ranked him number one because he played his high school football in Delaware and I abely you disrespect Ed a fell in I dropped the ball there and I apologize tell me why I I really screwed up I should have put you number one representing the first state um I think that I would have ranked him higher in all seriousness if he wasn't so raw and he's especially he's moving into a position at three Tech where there's some carryover from what he did with being a fouri and a five technique at um at West virgin M but there's a lot of differences too he's got to learn to play in a much tighter box now at three Tech um it's just there's going to be some growing paints early I think what and that's partially why I kind of have him in this 30 range um you know I like me some D tackles and some DNS D lineman in general and I tend to rank them more aggressively but uh I think it's going to take him a little bit of time to find his footing um but the upside there we know he an Expos I athlete he's a strong player Stout against the run it's just going to take him a little bit of time to kind of get his feet wet and I think get himself settled into that position I think so too and I think that's well said and he's a guy we talked about physical upside to me this next player number 28 is kind of like the personification of that higher quality of athlete that Mike nille has brought in from his time since he started that he's had access to and it's time for some of these guys to really show why they were such highly heralded Mike Norville recruits and I'm talking about number 28 sophomore linebacker Blake Nicholson 63 220 from out west he's got a bolt load of potential we talked about it last week on our video linebacker is a position where there is a ton of opportunity there for the other guy next to DJ Lundy we talked about juice CER ham Riley there's a there's plenty there's plenty of opportunity there but this the skills that Blake Nicholson brings is is really unique for this team and I think it's kind of interesting this range has a lot of guys that have a lot of potential but haven't really shown it yet on the field and I would say the rankings kind of show that Zach had him at 30 Adam you had him at 42 so off your list obviously you think that there's a little bit more a little bit more Flash and substance there with those physical traits versus the production brendam had him at 23 Kev had him at 43 that's interesting that the two film guys really had kind of consensus on there Chris had him at 26 I had him at 22nd Dane 33 kind of nice mix between like me and like uh Adam and Kev clay had him at 17 so he's very high on those physical traits this is another one of those guys where to me like my ranking on him was a mixture of the position and then he's a dude that is important to your team for me because you need to hit hit on one of these homegrown guys and Blake Nicholson's important to me because he can do a lot of stuff in that linebacker room that most of the other guys really can't and if he hits he's really important to like the overall ceiling he's like one of those overall ceiling players for me on just how a really good team could be a great team when we're not expecting it Kev you disagree you just don't think do you think it's just not his year you've seen him play Live do you think that there's do you have an issue with the the awareness why why do you have him off of your list as one of the most one of the most like if I'm assuming that if this was the 40 most talented Blake Nicholson would not be unranked on your list right uh yeah I mean 100% he's he's a guy that I think you're expecting to be a centerpiece of your defense moving forward I just think if we're talking about impact this next season I think juice CER was a little bit more of a completed Prospect coming out of high school I think he's got a much lower ceiling but I think he's reached I think he's closer to his ceiling as it is you know I I think he's got a higher floor than what you're dealing with Blake Nicholson um Nicholson's got all the athletic tools but I don't get the impression that the the level of ball that he was playing in high school was was really up to par with some of the the things that you know some of these other kids were seeing um and so it's just taken a little bit more time to kind of get adjusted to the speed of the game learned to use his athleticism I think he's needed to put on good weight in a significant way that someone like juice CER hasn't um so that just that just means that you know juice Cryer's I think ready to see the field before a Blake Nicholson in this season but that doesn't mean that I think juice CER is going to be the more important player next year or the year after that that's fair and I also like your underlying West Coast like football suck bias that you've just thrown out there and that's why the P I was I was trying not to say it no it's good but that that's why the Pack 12 is dead because it deserved to die all comments to the contrary x's and nules on Twitter yeah there you go Dane what do you think Blake you've seen him out there what do you think Blake's role is gonna be this year like who do you think is gonna be the primary running mate with DJ Lundy you've seen a lot of these guys out on the field I I mean ironically I think it's maybe most likely going to be the guy who we haven't seen which which is Cam right I think that might be the most likely guy but um I think I agree a lot with your line of thinking Trey of like um you know being the high upside guys kind of having a little bit greater value on a list like this when we're talking about elevating the ceiling of the team and to kev's point about like comparing him to juice CER because you kind of have to kind of have to like gather this you know depth chart projected depth chart like in your head of where you're going to put these guys you know you want to away like Snap count and your head that sort of thing and I think like Snap count um directly yeah like you could definitely make an argument for for juice CER to be ahead of Blake Nicholson or something if Blake doesn't take all the strides that you would hope he does but as far as being like an important piece to the overall success of this team I feel like neither of them have to be super vital but like Blake Nicholson has the potential to really actually Elevate the ceiling of this uh of that linebacker room because he probably is the most talented guy overall in it right um yeah absolutely and we saw we saw the impact that an athletic linebacker it's it's a position in Adam Fuller's defense that we've downplayed I think over the years but if you think about some of the most important defensive moments throughout the year it's hard to argue that at least not two of the top five of the entire year weren't linebacker plays kayin Delo Clemson Tatum bethon in that in that Louisville game like an athletic guy back there a weapon can really have an impact that's why I'm saying it it might be one of those things where like Dane said the success of the team doesn't hinge on a Blake Nicholson but if you want to have like an outside shot like winning the conference again and and making a playoff run you a guy like Blake Nicholson with that type of athletic profile could get you there I don't I don't I don't necessarily buy that um why not because I think you went and got Camy who's a more veteran version of Blake Nicholson yeah Blake Nicholson hadn't shown us he can play the run in the box yet I mean we all think that he's going to be able to we all think he's going to develop into that player they think he's going to develop into that player but right now it's all promise and upside um and that's all important and yeah he's may be the most talented player in that room but if you can't go out there and do it consistently I mean not all Talent all that Talent is only so valuable right but this isn't a 40 best players list this is0 most important can't play because you can't do the job then how important are you so you you have him at 42 you're not expecting him no because I think ciley I think cam Riley's gonna do his job I think Cam Riley is gonna be above him I think he's gonna play more than him I think he's going to do that role so I ranked Cam Riley aggressively and and I couldn't in turn then say well I think Blake Nichols is important but this other guy's gonna play way more than him and he's gonna be over him I just couldn't I had a hard time saying okay I've got to get Blake Nicholson into my into my 30 range when I don't think he's gonna have that job I think cam Riley's gonna have that job okay I I think I think what I'm like I'm my placement of Nicholson's kind of in between right it's like there's pretty wide range here but I'm more in between and I'm in your line of thinking of we haven't seen it from him yet so I'd like to see that but at the same time you I think are more ranking based on like what you believe will happen rather than like what realistically can happen and that's why I think I'm like you know 10 spots ahead of you or whatever and I think he absolutely is someone that should be ranked because realistically he could make an impact and he could make a very big impact but he probably won't right produ for you I'd say Adam for you and I think it's going to Bear out with some of the other rankings that you had that we're going to talk about tonight production production production is King for you right production already happened yeah I wouldn't say that it's king I I would say that oh dude then oh man okay I would say the production is very important to me though yes I wouldn't say that it's I mean I look positional value for me is King I'm going to take a defensive end over a linebacker any day of the week but then weighing that along with guys that you know I think that you're going to be able to trust and and then yes production that's gonna play a role for me yeah for sure over potential I would say and and I think that's fair and especially if you're like hey I'm projecting cam Bradley who has a very interesting they got they did get him for a reason I get that I I I say I would say like wide receiver and we'll get to him at some as we go along here like wide receiver is a position where I went with potential and I waigh okay at some point you've got to hit on one of these guys to to combat some of these narratives that are out there um whereas I've heard I've heard maybe at least once already tonight and then I think we it got brought up last time like there's some conversation around some of these guys getting ranked higher because you need them to hit you don't need Blake Nicholson to hit this year to to achieve your goals in my opinion I you you don't need Blake Nicholson to hit to be a good team for the potential of a ceiling razor to have a great season then you need him to hit I get what you're saying I I think I think no I think no I think he's the 22nd most important guy because I think he's got the potential of being your other starting linebacker with a skill set that nobody else has and I think to have great to have good team you have good players playing well to have great teams you have players playing up to their athletic potential that's why I think it's important but Kev you were gonna say something I see Blake Nicholson on the kayin Delo track Delo was thrown in as a freshman wasn't very useful struggled sophomore year year you saw him pick up a new defense kind of wasn't what what he needed to be and he got sat for a good portion of it comes back junior year and he's one of your better players comes back senior year and he's he's one of the best linebackers in the ACC and I think that's where you're looking for Blake Nicholson I think he's a year away from being someone who's gonna give you that he's I think he's a year away from what Delo was last year or two years ago you know his his junior year that's fair that's where I'm at steady Improvement so I I actually like both sides of the coin I get both it's one of those ones where I think one of the two camps is going to be right on this one I just don't know which one yet let's move on to the next one a guy that we have seen a lot of at Florida State maybe not as much as we'd like to see and that's number 27 KRON it's they is it really pronounced portier it's not like a it's not puer it's not like looks like puer pointing oh every time I want to see it I just want to give I want to give respect to the goat Sydney but KRON portier what he prefers Richard Senor 6328 a guy that we have seen so many flashes of Florida state has such a hodgepodge of dudes at wide receiver no true number one like you had last year with Keon Coleman and Johnny Wilson there's a lot of stuff to replace there so just like linebacker a lot of opportunity and kron's one of the more seasoned guys in the group Zach has him at 22nd Adam has him at 24th Brenan at 32nd Kev 34th Chris 31 everybody's kind of on similar here I had him at 28th Dane you were high on him at 20th clay had him at 37 so almost didn't make his list Dane do you think that like do you project kentron as like possibly the number one wide receiver this year a clear number two I mean inside the top 22 you have him as a starter why and where do you see kentron making his biggest impact this season I think your number one guy in that room in the entire wide receiver room has to be Malik Bon at this point because I think he's the most talented guy and he's should be primed to like actually succeed that offense especially with how you know we feel that offense is going to run with the vertical ball and all that stuff but um ideally in this Mike norell offense the isolated like boundary big wide receiver uh which is called the nine um that is supposed to be I think ideally supposed to be like the Top Dog in that offense it has been recent years or with like Damonte Coy even at Memphis um and Johnny Wilson since Mike norvell's been here and stuff that's supposed to be your kind of top dog and I think it's important like AB was saying like is it really important that Blake Nicholson hits this year no I don't really think it is but then you made a great point I thought about you know elevating the ceiling of the team that's where I would think as well but for KRON portier um I think it is important that he kind of reaches a ceiling that might not be exceptionally high but it's important that he stays healthy uh for the first time in a little while um and can be I think he'll probably start I would think that um at this point at least over over Hing Williams who's like the other nine and that uh that offense at this point and um and I if he's a reliable guy on the outside who can win 101s reliably at least in the ACC and that sort of thing I think that would be a really important thing for your offense and for like a passing game that at the the moment seems kind of like up in the air of how effective it's going to be and stuff at least without you know having a really good run game next to it to compliment it Kev where do you have Mr portier I don't like saying it I want to say pory showback where do you have Mr portier in your hierarchy of receivers do you expect his role to expand is you're kind of you're a little bit lower on him than we are is that maybe due to injury history not a guy that you can count on that you really want to count on what do you think yeah I think Dane was kind of around my thoughts on it in the sense that you know you need a nine but I'm not sure that he's your guy you know he's he's shown potential he's shown moments he was our King of the spring last year he was a guy that you know you thought was going to break out but just never has it seemed like this was going to be his year and then he just didn't have a great spring um but then you also have Williamson and you have just it feels like you have a bunch of just guys that you're not sure which one of them are going to step out step up alongside Benson so it's hard to rank any one of them high because right now it feels like they're all kind of interchangeable and one of them's going to step up hopefully if this team's going to be successful so it's um it's hard to really know which one to bank on and when we're were doing when I was doing this rating it was like you know I want to put portier and Williams in the same place you know because I think that they're two receivers that could be the guy that steps up but I don't I don't know if I've seen enough of either one of them to be confident that one's better than the other a lot of projection in that receiver room lot of opportunity let's move on to the next one talking about rotations we're talking defensive line red chirch sophomore number 26 we have Daniel Lions 64290 limited stats last year 16 tackles did out of a 71.4 PFF grade this is an interesting one Adam obviously I'm going to defer to you on these defensive linemen Zack had him 26 Adam had him 27th Brendan 30th Kev 27th there's a lot of consensus on this christe had him at 35th I had him at 23rd danne 23rd clay 29th the reason that I'm a little bit higher on him is I once again it's kind of my reason for liking Tomy wall If You're Gonna Play on the interior I like somebody who's a plus as a pass rusher unfortunately I'd like to see more consistency but he's one of those guys I like his pass rushing skill I like him even in tandem with some of the starting guys projected starting guys like Daryl Jackson and Josh farmer and he's another one if you got a guy in the interior that can disrupt and can have an interior pass rush it raises the entire ceiling of the team so that's why I'm a little bit higher on him at 23 Adam you're you're pretty close 27 what do you think about Danel Lions game I feel like he's a guy that really is primed for a breakout yeah I'm a big fan of his potential uh and it's why I ranked him 27th especially at the defensive tackle position um potentially being your number three defensive tackle he's got to get he's a player that's gota lock in though like he's a guy that's gotta decide now is my opportunity to kind of take a next step and and really grab the ball by the horns here and um seiz this number three job behind Daryl Jackson and Josh farmer so I I was curious where he was going to kind of fall in the fold here and I thought at 27 I might have been aggressive and then I was shocked to see I was kind of right where everybody else was with him um he has plus pass rush ability he's a guy that can anchor uh on the inside and play The Run we've seen a lot of flashes from him but again like you kind of pointed out we haven't seen a lot of consistency from him and we haven't seen him do it in in big stretches so um I'm curious to see what it's all going to look like when he's got more snaps to be dependent upon right and then just kind of where he goes from there I don't think the reports are always great about um about Daniel so like I said I I he's a guy that I hope this summer has kind of gotten himself locked in and is ready at role I think so too because if he if he had like if he can make those Flash is consistent in Florida state is a team that rotates a ton on the interior hopefully to give Daniel Lions as many fresh reps as possible but his workloads going up with all the guys they lost he can be a real weapon for a deep group of defensive ends but that doesn't have the top end Talent when a guys like a Jared ver leaves right you're doing a little bit by committee at defensive end outside of Patrick pton man going on the interior you can make a quarterback's life hell anything else you guys want to add on Dan L get to this next one which I think is might take up a little bit of time in the discussion yeah I just I want to say something about Daniel L he's one of those guys that just it never feels like my eye test matches what the narrative is if that makes sense what do you see every time I see him on the field he flashes I think he's got a lot of length I think he disrupts the interior I think he's a really solid piece for pass rush as a pass rushing defensive tackle I think he's going to be in a good position we I thought we saw a decent amount out of him and I was just checking PFF PFF has him as the 14th highest rated player and almost everybody above him is someone who got drafted or will be drafted um it it felt like felt like every time I saw him on the field he looked good and then you hear people talk about him at practice you see Chris neee and Bryan who see him at practice every day and do these practice reports not seem to love him and it's kind of hard for me to like piece those two pieces of information together and so I think I think I would have been tempted to put him way higher because I do think he's going to be more important but I was kind of like I remembering that hey like the reports about him at practice or whatever the like overall narrative on on Daniel Lions doesn't seem positive even though my own eye test tells me hey I think this is a kid that that can be really good for you that's that's why I'm at 23 dude the talent was just too tantalizing and I think that he would like he makes a he makes a he'd be a fun a consistent Daniel Lions paired together with like a Daryl Jackson or paired together with like a Tomy wall what like he unlocks some fun packages for you he just needs to put it together let's talk about number 25 I think D I think Dan wanted to add something there D will go ahead I I think like I mean just you know being around Brandon and and Chris for example in there like I think okay so I was really high on lines coming into the spring he was a guy who wrote a lot about he was like my pick for king of the spring and stuff because I thought he deserved a lot of love I thought he he's like one of the few guys on the team that's most Prime to it's kind of like the Josh farmer Arc of you know a guy you know is probably gonna end up being good he's playing behind talented guys and he's playing at a position that you know even if he's not a starter he's going to end up playing a lot of snaps and he could he could flash play and that sort of thing and I think lions from a ceiling standpoint I mean at this point in Josh Farmer's career when he was Lions age or whatever I mean you would say Lions probably has the higher ceiling based on his length and pass rushing upside that sort of thing absolutely um so like I like Daniel Lions a lot but I think there was also that kind of expectation built in going into the spring and you wanted to see him I mean maybe again and that Josh farmer are like really kind of take over some practices Josh Farmer for example again um is like an excellent practice player and that sort of thing and I think Lions just didn't really uh flash a ton I guess in the spring and especially like while like a Grady Kelly looked awesome in the beginning of Spring and stuff like that that's a guy you all you cared about with gry Kelly was just floor because you know of course he's not going to be some special talent and then he looks like a like a really nice player at times um so I think you want to see more out of lions I mean he is ranked 26 I along with Trey had him at the highest you know at 23 is like a very important non starter um and some of that's based on Snap count some of that's based on uh positional importance or whatever but no Daniel lions like if he's doing what he's supposed to be doing which he very well could be um he should be a really important player because he's also very talented and I think he will so do you um let's get to number 25 this is an interesting one this is a dude you want to talk about if this was a top 40 most talented player list I'd be very interested to see where this kid falls we're talking about number 25 sophomore highly highly highly coveted safety recruit Conrad hussy a dude that did make his presence known at times during the season was inconsistent but man the highs were really really high and Florida State is looking for a talented running mate for veteran and guy who we will definitely see later on this list shyen Brown he had a 75.4 PFF grade 22 tackles last year and let's get into these fun rankings clay had him at 16th Kev had him at 17th Dana and I both had him at 24 21 excuse me Chris KN had him at 24 a little bit lower Brendan at 34 crazy at 34 Zach even crazier at 35 and Adam Brown it should say 45 it should say 45 I doesn't the star the star of the message Bo comment section Conrad hussy completely unranked I will give you the time to talk about why this okay not a lot of time necessary I don't in my opinion he's your number four safety this year and I just can't rank a number four safety that highly like I for the entirety of the year you don't think that that Talent is ever going to catch on throughout the entirety of the year no no I I I really don't I really don't I don't love the things that I hear about him out of practice like I don't I I think he's a year away like if we're doing this list next year I I got a feeling I'm gonna have him like 10th 42 I don't think he's there this year and that's okay to say like I don't it's not lot of people didn't think it was okay to I I don't care what people think whatever people are going to think what they want to think they G to they're going to see list and guys not ranked and they're going to say oh you hate that guy I I was one of the main ones like going crazy when they got him talking about how lady is gonna be a to cover safety and all these things and I'm still really excited about his future I think that there's some growing up that needs to happen and we're going to see if it occurs or not and I I I wasn't gonna rank him because I'm not I like I said I had him at 45 I don't know why it says 50 but I don't think that he's going to be that important for this defense this year I think am Marian Cooper's gonna play at safety I think Devonte Brown's gonna play at safety I think Shaheen Brown's G to play at safety like I I think those other guys are going to play bigger role over the course of the season on this defense it's tough for me to say okay the number four safety I've got to get him in there because he's super talented this isn't the most talented list interesting to me because I I rarely ever get to do this Kev based on your ranking you think ad can't you think Adam you think Adam's a caveman why do you have Conrad hussy at 17th based on film that everybody has seen we have seen the good we've we've heard about some of the inconsistencies why do you think that he's going to be you're projected at least and you did your rankings by the end of the year you think Conrad hus going to be the other guy starting next to shahim Brown yeah to be frank I I think he has to be um I'm pulling up the stats now um so last year you had Shaheem Brown and next to him was AEM Dent when a team when AEM Dent was on the field FSU was at 4.1 yards per play allowed which um if I I've got a sort here for a second um that would be first in the country that'd be the best defense in the country when AEM Dent was on the field F that FSU was number one in the country in yards per play when AEM Dent was not on the field car to guess they weren't great 80 oh o bigger drop than I thought and you could tell you could tell especially in the running game I feel like a lot of teams capitalized on them you want to know you want to know what hem D was he was Dependable he was he yeah I I'm not sold at what you have at safety outside of shahe brown he's the only one you know I like has played a snap of safety in a division one game besides Conrad hussy so this is so this is more of the like we need him to be good because I like this guy kind of needs to be your other starting safety for a highle defense type deal if you want if you want to a playoff game you need Conrad hussy to be good I I think I think what you have outside of him is is is kind of pedestrian a little bit yeah I mean I'm Devonte Brown was a a very good Corner two years ago at UCF I'm sorry he got coached by Miami last year oh the Miami NE he just never played safy maybe he's the guy maybe he's the guy I'm just saying if you want I think you can have like a top 15 def defense with those guys but if you want like a top 10 defense it's going to really help to have Conrad hussy come on like I think the reason why I gave him such a high rating is because I do think if if the flip if the swi switch flips for him you'll see a dramatic change in the defense but I yeah I mean if I'm if I'm a betting man I'm with AB I don't think that will happen this year but if it does it's one of those that's and that's to me it was what we were talking about the Blake Nicholson thing again you can be good without him but there's only a certain number of guys on either side of the ball that if they play up to their athletic potential the entirety of that unit can get better quicker than we expect and that's like one of those guys Conrad hus is definitely one of those guys and a lot of it has to do with his talent but a lot of it has to do with what Kevin said you've got shahim brown and then some steady hands that were steady hands at other positions that are be transitioning to safety for the first time in this defense it's somebody's gonna have to step up play next to shahim Dane what do you think where I mean I feel like you're kind of falling on he's the most important you've seen him does if you had to bet I mean you'll probably say all the same things that Kevin I said for why Haven been you're most important but let's I want to get to the one thing Adam said if you had to bet on Conrad hussy taking the next step this year or in 2025 what would you bet I would I would take 25 because I I agree that if we're betting on like what we think will happen if it has to be black or white then yeah I would bet against him this year um but why do you say that because you've seen him a lot more in the practice field yeah I don't think he's I think he's such a clearly like one of the top like high upside guys on the field he's he flashes when flashes it's it's picking the ball off in some impressive fashion showing off crazy range or ball skills or some kind of thing that not many guys on the roster can do but he's also we're talking about dependability which is really important especially in this I mean for like you know last line of defense safety or whatever this a quarter scheme that's is a difficult position to play in this defense you got to do a lot of stuff you got to do it right and um and if he's not doing it right consistently and we didn't see him do it right consistently at all contrary to a lot of like the fan base's belief um you know last season like if he doesn't drastically improve then he no he's not gonna take that lead this year but he am crazy am I crazy or did it seem like one play happened or one thing happened and he got like The Yips last year oh yeah absolutely Yip he just got benched I mean yeah that BC game when they ran out like tight end they R in that hidden tight end play and I'm still not convinced it was actually his fall um we stopped seeing him and then eventually Mike norell was like we've got to play him we've got to play him we've got to get him on the field and I wonder I wonder because last year was that all-in moniker I wonder if they're going to be a little bit more apt to let some of these young guys take their lumps and learn through it within the same game I'm interested to see how that goes we'll see I don't know probably gonna blow a lot of teams out too so yeah and it's funny we all this this was a big topic of conversation on the message board but it's kind of funny as you transition into the next guy on this list number 24 also safety a guy that we just kind of spoke about a little bit and that's red shirt senior Miami transfer Devonte Brown this is the guy and to Adam's point like I have Conrad hussy higher up on my list I am at I have Devonte Brown at 25th I have Conrad hussy at 21st I think that Devonte Brown is going to get the Lion Share of the snaps especially at the beginning of the season at safety and I think that a lot of people have that consistence there's not as much wild variation on Devonte Browns ranking uh as there is with Conrad hussy because you know what you're GNA get and that is a valuable thing at a position like safety to pair up with a a talented and a known quantity like Shaheen Brown so Zach had Devonte at 32nd Adam had him at 25th Brendan 21st Kev 31st Chris NE 21st I I said 25th for me danne 28th clay 24th it's interesting because if there was a less heralded transfer out of the portal I I can't remember one since Trey Benson from Oregon as far as like the initial and I get it last year would he did not cover himself with Glory but to Adam's Point yeah he was getting coached by that Miami defensive stat dude I mean it is what it is in a major way I mean and they're they're yeah I'm not gonna pile one but we don't think very highly of them but this is a situation where like I feel like everybody ranked Conrad hussi higher than Devonte Brown because of Conrad H or because of Conrad hussy's upside and it's like I mean at what point do we not listen to the coaches because they raved about Devonte Brown all all spring um do we not pay attention to the intels coming out which pretty much says like Devonte Brown's problem going to be the starter opposite of Shaheen Brown do we not go back to what we know he did in 20 was it 2022 at UCF where he was one of the most coveted Corners coming out of of that school and was very good player and then we say okay so we know he was very good coverage player they're a light box defense they want a coverage player back there that they can depend on and we've seen him be a really good coverage football player and acclim made himself to the safety position this spring like I I I just I didn't get why he didn't get more love on this list to be fair in the aggregate he is rated higher than Conrad he is you're right absolutely so we we did weigh that in there's just a lot but only because I only because I didn't rank Conrad hussy like if you put a put a 30 in there for me I bet Conrad hussy jumps him I don't know brenon had him at 21st Chris had him at 21 I had him at 25th I think that I think the funny thing about this is the the eyes of the people that practice watching the film and especially the speed with which these coaches said they signed me up I want all Devonte Brown at safety I think we're I think we think he's a way more important guy than the fan base does and I 100% expect a bounceback year from him I 100% expect that and I think everybody else does too and I think we've talked enough about safeties let's get to number 23 let's talk about some wide receivers boy and let's talk about red shirt senior jakai Douglas he is our 23rd most important player 59 199 a guy that you know was dealing with some injuries at the beginning of the year but really when you had him near the end of the year the type of stuff that he can do is fun he's Dependable he's versatile and I'm glad that he got his his brother to come play with him another guy we'll talk about about later Zack hadam at 19th Adam hadam at 23rd Brendan 26 Kev at 33rd Chris 17th I also had him at 33rd Dane 27 clay 23rd speaking for myself I just think that while I like him he's Dependable I don't foresee him to have I I feel like his role is his role he's going to do what he's going to do and it's what he's done the past couple of years um now could I look like fool especially with all the all the opportunity in the receiver room 100% but I think that Devonte Brown I mean jakai Douglas is a very important part of the offense and I think he can do some things very well but it's gonna be sort of the same stuff that you've seen Dane what do you think do you think that actually jaai is getting slept on a little bit in this list with his familiarity in the offense and kind of the open opportunities that exist at the receiver position does he have an opportunity to be like your consistent starting slot guy I think that's what he is but I think that also doesn't have to be like such an important thing to where you're ranking him you know ahead of I guess where he is I mean that's his I have him at 27 that's that's close enough to where he's ranked now I mean at 23 it's basically just like he's a he ranked as like the highest tier of you know backup or lowest tier of like starter from an important standpoint so and that's I think that's totally fair you know I think it's where he should be um he can be a weapon not necessarily like a I guess he's kind of specialized weapon in a sense um I don't know I think you're really laboring over how to how how how to give this man his moniker I thought special weapon was pretty cool man you should stick with that I think you put it uh you put it well saying like you know what he is I guess sucking up all toward the back end of last year so like Health has been a concern with him I think when we're talking about ceiling maybe that's something that like uh could increase like his perceived value at this point and like what he could be because he hasn't had incredible stretches of Health um and if he can if he can remain healthy throughout the season you know I mean he was a he was a blue chip recruit he looks like a super twitched up athlete out there on the practice field um you know maybe he can have a a pretty nice impact on this offense but I think this is an appropriate range for him Adam what do you think I mean we're all pretty around I mean you had him dead nuts 23rd he turns out 23rd he's an he's a he's he's he's an important dude we feel like his role is going to be his role which is important but I I tell you what on a team with a lot of unknowns a known quantity Like A jakai Douglas especially a full year of him I I kind of I'm also kind of stoked to see Mr uongo start throwing some deep balls to this guy right that sounds like fun yeah so I I put him at 23 because we've spent the entire offseason talking about wanting to see them run more Crossing routes and things like that man beaters is this is a guy that can do that um we saw a player similar in stature to him have success with DJ last year at orgon State and I can't think of the dude s Balden yeah Sal Bal there two really little 58 guys are really good we saw jakai be a pretty important piece in the bowl game and I know it was a a nothing game and there was only so many people available for it but we saw them kind of dial some things up for him um I I just I just think at this point with what we know going on in the wide receiver room and and what weapons are available if you've got a guy that you feel like can change the numbers on the scoreboard better rank them high because agree they're all going to be important this year he has the potential that the crossing route thing great point he's got a potential to maybe even be like a security blanket type for Mr Mr DJ and that could make me look stupid at the end of the year which I would be cool with because I like jaai a lot speaking of a guy that I want to have just a fantastic year I've got a lot wrapped up in this from my Polynesian takeover of Florida State narrative that I really want to just shove down into everybody's throats that's number 22 defensive end reg senior transfer Oregon State a man of the islands a man of my heart's gonna be mad at me ah I can't M I can't never say mad at you for too long Zack had Mr L hea at 20th Adam 31st Bo Brendan 25th Kev 28th Chris 27th I myself Adam at 24th I am not the highest on him that is a disgrace to myself the people with with which yeah yeah the Delaware thing for you the island people from yeah dude now I'm embarrassed at least had a couple options at least danne's smart he had him at 19th Klay had him at 26 Dane what do you see from sonone I think that you know he was a very dependable hand in Oregon State played really well particularly against the run I think with his motor and the guys that he's playing with on that defensive side of the ball I think there's a potential unlock that pass rush ability having a guy with a great motor violent hands and like crazy strength opposite of a guy like a Patrick pton or a Marvin Jones Jr I like that combination what did you see from C at practice how did my guy integrate uh he looked pretty good I mean he's um he's a starting quality defensive in and that's always going to be you know something that should be like valued high right um but yeah you mentioned dependability you mentioned like a guy who's going to be stouted against the run and stuff and in a light box like this that's really important so I mean I think he's just an important guy like if he were to go down I think he would really feel that so he he should be ranked kind of as a starter even if he isn't doesn't end up being the starter you know if it's Marvin Jones and uh pat pton on the outside or something you know I think I think uh CA is is more than worthy of a of a ranking inside the top 20 like I have him here Adam this is a defense that we don't know if it's going to be exp I don't think it's going to be as explosive or as talented on the edge as it was last year that's what happens when you lose a first round pick in Jared verse but this is a defense that we surmised all off season that they were going to make it tough to move the ball against consistently with the depth and they were going to be a hard team to run against why do you have uh C at 31st when we think that he do we think that he's the best run stopping defensive end that we have and a good and maybe the best running mate for guys that are more pass rush Specialists like Patrick pton and like Marvin Jones Jr no I think Pat Payton's the best run Defender that you have on the edge even better than tone yeah I do yeah I do um well we'll see how that plays itself out I'm sure kev's got some fancy numbers that'll that'll contradict that uh I like C this was a tier and a range of ranking players where I just felt like I like play part cheesy like throw the dice in the little cup shake YSI yatsi there you go did you say how youy I don't know um I I could have put in 25 I could have put him 31 it just felt like I don't think that the ceiling super duper High here MH but I think the floor is really high and that's nice and ultimately I just went with some guys that I thought would maybe make him more steing him than wrecking him higher fair enough I think he's gonna play a big role uh before we move on there's I thought there was a really interesting question um okay so someone asked if we're going to see more odd man fronts with thir and Laha um we actually saw a decent amount of odd fronts last year I think FSU ran something like 25% odd fronts according to PFF um but yeah I mean it's a interesting question right because dur and Laha are two guys two bigger bodied inss right two guys you could imagine kind of playing inside the tackles and more of like a four ey type thing so odd front just means three down instead of four um or five down um but an odd number yeah yeah I think they fit nicely into that and I think they give you ability to kind of have that flexibility um I I don't think that Pat Payton is someone you want to be playing in a in an odd front situation so you know being able to throw in a in in a duray or or Laha and seeing like and being able to kind of do an odd front or sometimes you'll see them even do kind of mixed fronts uh Georgia does that a lot where they'll kind of give a look where it's almost an odd front on one side and an even front on the other side and they'll kind of mix it up that was kind of the whole point of the fox position a couple years ago throwback oh I remember all that conversation and I actually went back uh dur is 64 275 Kier Thomas was 62 275 so he's built like Kier Thomas is currently so that's that is a position the fox being kind of that hybrid between an even odd idea of like a bigger bodied in that you can kind of play in that b Gap that's that's a possibility and it's a real one and I I think having these kind of hybrid ends does give you some flexibility as as second string guys anything that can give my guy the mad scientist Adam Fuller more flexibility and scheme to throw out at people of this godforsaken conference I'm all for it I just want to see my guy Adam Fuller Thrive and cook and c will help him do that 21st this is another fun one too and this and you know it's appropriate because he's a fun player I am talking about ah wide receiver running back kick and punt return extraordinary Indiana Indiana transfer jayen Lucas this one is funny because it is way all over the place it is way all over the place Zack hadam at 14th Adam hadam is 10th the 10th most important player on this roster was a special teamer from Indiana was a special teamer from Indiana that is that's more fun to me than the Conrad one so I'm gonna go to you first after this Brendan 22nd Kev 32nd Chris 19th I had him at 35th I was the low guy on him Dane 24th clay 27th Adam I'm going to let you defend this because obviously positional ranking was important to you you said production was important to you unless you're projecting like 13 special teams touchdowns what the hell were you smoking having him T and I like this player I also Bas on your own on your own on your own left an important one out that I just said unless you're an offensive player who can change the scoreboard because they don't have many of them this year those guys took a heavy precedent for me and that is why I aggressively ranked Jaylen Lucas he's never changed the scoreboard on offense though consistently his entire career he's never had an intelligent football coach like Mike norell that's a lot of that's a lot of projection what do you want me to tell you he's been playing freaking Indiana in your face Tom something Allan somewhere now where where did he as far as like offensive skill players for you was Jaylen Lucas your highest rated offensive skill player oh no no no no Benson was well technically DJ was but Malik Benson's the highest so you have him rated higher you have Jay Lucas rated higher than like a royell Williams or something like that no I think royell is a spot ahead of him do you have any defensive players in your top yeah absolutely you have two running backs in your top 10 I think they're going to be desperate for production at skill position sorry I think having a range of opinions on this platform is great and I think having discourse like this is great even if it's you know really stretching the boundaries of Sanity but I think it's great he this is a program that low special teams he's best kick returner in the nation by far it's not even close by far okay sure it's not even close he is ridiculously call keep going he's ridiculously dynamic as a runner we've seen what he can do we know how much Mike norbel loves screen game okay you get him involved in the screen game and he's one of the few guys that can go 80 guess what this offense wants to do go 0 fact get me hyped up it's just what it is I I mean I knew I was gonna be an outlier putting him up there but they need dudes that can score points in chunks yeah how many touches do you think he's going to get per game on the offensive side of the ball because I'm with you dude he's got he he a point he's a point getter but I mean you got to have enough at bats so but you're based on you ranking him 10th you think that he's gonna get a lot of at bats on the offensive side of the ball I mean what's a lot okay then I don't know dude you ranked him 10th you've ranked them 10th so you like you think that he's actually gonna get a lot of touches on the offensive side I think he's gonna I think he's gonna get his fair share of touches yeah how many do you think you have them as you had them at 10 throw a number yeah you had them at 10 I have no clue you've said this will you have a damn clue yet why do I need to put a number Adam because you said this entire you've said this entire hour the your list was banked was based on what you think is actually going to happen this year what you think is going to happen so you think that he's going to be the 10th most important player on this entire football football team So based off that how many touches on the offensive side of the ball do you think that he's going to get to end up being the 10 do I need to say I have I don't know I'm not saying Trey asked the same question and I've given the I don't know how many touches they're gonna have per game I don't know how many average touches they're gonna have per per per game I know but like do you think he you have him 10th how many I think he's GNA average 25 touches a game no that's ludicrous then why do you have him as your 10th most rated player because he's one of the few guys that can change the scoreboard you lost me on this one because I was with you on production production production proven on the field and based on what they're going to be at the end of the Year Kev you have him at 32nd I have him at 35th I think he's one of the best special teams players in the entire country I actually maybe underrated him a little bit because if he can unlock the the punt return game that makes him more important but I think that he's a guy that maybe gets like six touches a game on the offensive side of the ball Kev what do you think now I could look like a fool if they integrate him because the Indiana's dumb they should have integrated him way more on that side of the ball but they did there's a lot of mouse de feed on that side in that position what do you think Kev I'm at a loss for who's gonna be your offensive Playmakers who's going to be the guys you're going to lean on and I kind of did exactly what AB did but the opposite where I said well if I've got a bunch of people that I don't think that I don't know who's the standout out of all of them then their wins above replacement are relatively low and so then I put look at this Jaylen Lucas 32 jakai Douglas 33 KRON portier 34 glob I just globbed all the receivers I didn't know what to do with together because I'm like I think Jaylen Lucas is the most talented of the three I know jakai Douglas can do it against good teams and I've seen KRON portier do it against NFL cornerbacks so these guys I just kind of threw them in there and said well there's a glob of guys that could be important for for the record though I do like the line of thinking that AB has of like you need guys that are going to put points on the board and like what kav saying like when your WIS above replacement isn't high for a guy or something you're essentially saying like that's probably not like a scoreboard changer jayen Lucas can be a scoreboard changer so I totally like the idea of having I mean like we're clown on as Zach him at 14 like Chris at 19 I mean I had him at 20 like it's not it's not all that far off I just no think like that top 10 tier is kind of save for like your Bonafide starters and important guys on like certain spots I don't know whatever but um but yeah no I mean he's a guy who's gonna put points on the board or who's going to be able to at a in a different way and at a high level than other guys so his wins above replacement even if his touches aren't great you know on average like AB is kind of alluding to like who knows it doesn't really matter those touches could be really impactful at like a higher rate than other guys there was a list of players I was most excited about top 10 seems reasonable if Jaylen Lucas is one of the top 10 most important players of Florida State at the end of the season this is going to be like the most fun offense to watch like in the history of college football I hope it is dude because that kid rules he rules he was the king of the spring he came out of nowhere and he is going to score he's going to score touchdowns I agree are a full yeah but not like not like 17 like you think he's gonna have like four touchdowns at the end of the year we well how many do you think because now you're trying to hold me to numbers how many touchdowns you think he's gonna have 15 because I think he'll have like I I'd go he'll have 15 no I don't think he's gonna have have five touchdowns jayen Lucas think he'll have five yes I think I mean I'll take the overall on that for sure okay then how about you give me a number all right what how many touchdowns did Trey Benson have last year I don't know I'm asking I don't know either PR for that lot he had a lot of tou all right let's he had 15 how many is Jay Lucas I don't know he had 15 last year no he had he had 14 Dane how could you be so far off all right I think five for Jim no wait he had 15 totle cuz he had receiving okay I'll put I'll put him in the seven8 N range somewhere in that ballpark you were looking at me like I was a prostitute with a boob growing out of my forehead for five and you're putting him down for seven eight or nine that's just offense I mean Jesus then then you got a fact eight or nine special teams but I mean okay all right guys this is beauty this is the beauty of the most important list this is the every single week on this show go to n 247.com if you haven't go in the comment section go on the board who do you agree with do you agree with everyone do you agree with Adam Kev me Dane Zach whatever agree disagree this is this is the fun time of the year we are going to have 10 more coming at you every week we are creeping closer and closer to that sacred top 10 I had a blast I'll be honest with you I don't know who's right and who's wrong but I always have fun hashing it out with my Three Amigos and we'll be doing that every single week nobody's wrong the only people that aren't wrong is if you're not a noles247.com subscriber because you miss out on all this for Kevin for Adam for damee opposite with the camera I am Trey Roland I had a blast I hope you guys did too stay tuned for more fun and entertainment from nolles 247 keep chopping love you all