Just How Good could the Seminoles' Defense be in 2012

First off lets start with the caliber of athletes that we will have in the secondary, our corners will at least be in the top of the nation with NFL prospect  Xavier Rhodes and cover corners  Greg Reid, Lamarcus Joyner, Nick Waisome. Safety will feature another 5* in Karlos Williams and the other safety spot will be filled by Nick Moody who willd be a 3 year starter and will have made a lot of improvement from this year, his first full year on the field.Keelin Smith will be able tocontribute at both Safety an Corner. The other safeties on the team will be second year players, Gerald Demps, Lamarcus Brutus and Tyler Hunter.  

Linebacker will be absolutely loaded with at three 5* players plus will feature Telvin Smith who is right now one of the most underrated players on the team. We saw a glimpse of his talent during the Chik-fil-A Bowl when he made three or more great tackles on special teams. The combination of size and speed will be outstanding starting with Christian Jones who will be 6'4" and around 240 lbs, who played in every game as a true freshman. When  we land his signature Tony Steward will come in and be one of the top LB's on the team as a true freshman. By 2012 he Tony will be around 6'1" 235 lbs, with speed and explosion that is unparalleled. The other starting LB spot can be filled by any other of these talented players Telvin Smith,previously mentioned, Jeff Luc another 5* player, Vince Williams will be a senior, Nigel Terrell, Terrance Smith, or possibly James Wilder Jr another 5*. All of these guys will play as this year at least 7 LB's saw playing time.

By 2012 FSU will finally have grown men across the front. DE will feature both size and speed that we have not seen in Tallahassee in many years. Starting with senior and 3rd year starter Brandon Jenkins, the other DE will have many possibilities the fact that Bjoern Werner played as a true freshman and has no played football for long, who knows how much better he will be in 2 more years after being in the system.Cornellius Carradine will be in his second year and will be competing for the starting position as well. Also DE will feature Sophomore stud Aaron Lynch who might bypass the rest of the DE's on the roster, Lynch will have gone through 2 off-season conditioning programs before the start of his sophomore year, if not you still have Dan Hicks who will be in his 4th year, also Newberry will be coming off a redshirt year and will also be ready to contribute.

DT will be a loaded in 2012 starting off with 4 year starter Jacobie McDaniel. By 2012 we will have at least five 300 pounders to get movement on the LOS. Everette Dawkins will be in his 5th year and will be a good combination of size and speed. Demonte McAlister will be close to 300lbs and in his 4th year. Darious Cummings and Cameron Erving will be over 300lbs and in their third year and will be ready to contribute. Also Derrick Mitchell will be in his second year and the coaching staff is already very high on this recruit as well as Niles Lawrence-Stample who might be the most athletic DT on the team. That is 7 DT's alone that will be ready to play in 2012.

If you look at it, 2012  will offer at least 28 players that can come in and play and out of the 28 it is hard to find a player that will provide a weak spot in the Defense. This does not include any true freshman in 2012 that could come in and offer quality reps as did a Christian Jones, Werner, Joyner, and Telvin Smith did this year on defense. Not only will the defense be loaded, but special teams will have all kinds of athletes running down the field. You should expect blocked punts, big returns and big hits like we have never seen given the emphasis and knowledge that Gran gives to the special teams.

I can't wait for the excitement that this Defense will bring in 2012.