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Levonta Taylor commits to Florida State: Seminoles land 5-star recruit

Taylor will remind some of former FSU players Greg Reid or Tony Carter, but with a higher ceiling.

By Bud Elliott Updated
Student Sports

One of the top recruits in the country came come off the board Friday as Levonta Taylor made his commitment to Florida State. Out of Virginia Beach (Va.) Ocean Lakes High School, Taylor is rated as a five-star recruit on the 247Sports Composite Rankings, No. 19 overall, and the No. 2 cornerback in the country. FSU now has 13 commitments and the No. 1 class in the country.

Taylor listed many finalists, including Georgia, LSU, Florida, UCLA, USC, Clemson and Ohio State; but the primary two were Florida State and the hometown Virginia Cavaliers. Virginia was long thought to be Taylor's favorite, but a visit to Florida State on March 19 went very well according to sources inside Florida State's program.

Florida State did a very good job recruiting Virginia (a talented Southern, but non-SEC state) under Jimbo Fisher, and promising defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi signed with FSU from Ocean Lakes in the 2014 class. In addition, Florida State signed defensive end Josh Sweat and defensive tackle Darvin Taylor from Virginia in the class of 2015.

What is Florida State getting in Taylor?

Florida State typically recruits exclusively bigger, longer corners, but at times an exception will be made for a smaller player if his skills justify it. And Taylor fits the bill, as he is 5'10 flat on a good day and 170 pounds. But he is able to cover a lot of ground.

Many FSU fans have made the comparison to former Seminoles Greg Reid or Lamarcus Joyner, but Taylor is neither of them. Taylor is taller, but not quite the freak athlete that Lamarcus Joyner was, and he has a higher ceiling than Greg Reid, who was an excellent returner but not a great cornerback. Taylor has excellent quickness and agility, and can get up vertically to minimize his lack of length and size.

I think Taylor is closer to a top-10 type corner and a top-100 player, and his overall rating has been dropping as other players who have recently emerged get ranked in the recruiting process, but he is still an excellent prospect.

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