Florida State Seminoles In the NFL Now

The Florida State Seminoles are known for their terrific defense and has some very high quality defensive players in the N.F.L. now, but they are not devoid of talent on offense in the N.F.L. How well have the Seminoles transitioned to the N.F.L.? Let’s take a look at the currently N.F.L. players that went to school at Florida State and were drafted (I haven’t been including Undrafted Free Agents in any of these yet).

Players in parenthesis are players that have been drafted this year. You can look at who we think will be the Seminoles of 2012 and Beyond here. Quarterback

(Chrisitan Ponder)

Ponder was considered a reach by many, but he was still a first round pick and has some nice characteristics that could translate well into the N.F.L. The good thing for Ponder is that he’s going into a situation where he will be surrounded by a lot of weapons to give him a good chance to succeed.

Running back

Leon Washington, Lorenzo Booker, Greg Jones

The best running back to come out of Florida State in recent memory is Warrick Dunn and none of these guys are in his class, but Washington is a play maker in his own right. Washington is not a starting running back, or a guy who will tote the rock 20 times a game, but a very good special teams player who can contribute something on offense as well.

Offensive Line

(Rodney Hudson)

Alex Baron, Ray Willis, Montrae Holland, Mario Henderson

Not a great collection of offensive linemen. The best is probably Mario Henderson, but he’s not an elite offensive linemen talent.

Anquan Boldin, Lavarneous Coles

The Seminoles haven’t put a ton of successful Wide Receiver talent into the N.F.L. lately, but these two have had distinguished careers. Coles is nearing the end, and Boldin has had his share of injuries, but when healthy (and in Coles prime) these are two good, very solid players.

Tight End

None Drafed Recently

Overall the offensive talent in the N.F.L. that are former Seminoles is not overwhelming.

Defensive Line

(Markus White)

Kameron Wimbley (DE in 43), Darnell Dockett, Broderick Bunkley, Everette Brown, Andre Fluellen, Letroy Guion, , Travis Johnson, Chauncey Davis,

While there is really only two good players here (Dockett and Wimbley-9 sacks last year), there is very solid depth here. Brown still has the potential to become a good pass rusher in this league and Fluellen and Guion are improving players. All in all the Seminoles have put in some quality players along the defensive line.

Linebacker

Lawrence Timmons, Kameron Wimbley (OLB 34), Geno Hayes, Dekoda Watson, Ernie Simms

Timmons is a stud in the middle for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Wimbley had a good season with the Raiders. Ernie Simms was a disappointment on the Lions and wasn’t great on the Eagles either, but he’s a solid weakside linebacker. Clearly, there seems to be a type of FSU linebacker that comes from the Florida State University. Speedy linebackers who can cover, but are undersized. Players that seem to fit in Tampa 2 style (The Bucaneers have two of them: Hayes and Watson).

Cornerbacks

Patrick Robinson, Antonio Cromartie, Bryant McFadden

Cromartie is very talented as his Robinson and Cromartie had a good season last year. All of these guys have starting experience (or will have plenty of it-Robinson) though if this was your teams first three cornerbacks it would be considered a slightly above average cornerback group.

Safeties

Chris Hope, *Myron Rolle*

Chris Hope has had a pretty good career and really can rack up the tackles from the safety position. Hope had 101 tackles last year and a 121 tackles in 2006. Hope also has 19 career interceptions so he’s made some plays in his career. Myron Rolle’s story is well known, but he still could have a decent future if he could latch onto a team, or maybe that’s just me rooting for his success.

Special Teams

Sebastian Janakowski

This was a crazy Raiders pick. A Kicker drafted 17th overall in the first round! But in retrospect there was worse picks in 2000, like R.J. Soward who had 14 career receptions and was drafted in the first round.

Conclusion

All in all the Seminoles have a respectable showing in the N.F.L. right now. If you look at the previous teams we’ve looked at here: , you’ll probably agree that the Seminoles are clearly behind the few other teams we’ve looked at so far, like the Wolverines, who have a surprising amount of very talented players contributing in the N.F.L. and also probably at USC.

What should be noted is that the talent seems to be on the upswing on FSU now, and a list like this 10 years from now could look very impressive.

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