With Nile Lawrence-Stample graduating and moving on to a potential NFL career after the 2015 season, Florida State will be trotting out a new starting defensive tackle when the 2016 season kicks off. One of the many players who could contend for playing time in the middle of next year's defensive line is 2016 JUCO commit and current early enrollee Walvenski Aime.
Aime, who goes by Wally, is a 2013 graduate out of Boca Raton (FL) Olympic Heights Community High School who spent two seasons at Fort Scott (KS) Community College before landing in Tallahassee. Aime earned 11 tackles in the first three games of 2014 with FSCC before suffering a season-ending injury. In 2015, he played the entire season, racking up 41 tackles, five TFLs, and two sacks. Despite spending two years at Fort Scott, Aime arrives at Florida State with three years of eligibility left due to his redshirt being used in 2013 and a medical redshirt he received for the 2014 season.
Aime's prospect rating is split between the major recruiting services as he is considered a four-star recruit by ESPN and Scout but is rated at three stars by 247Sports and Rivals. 247's composite ranking, which averages all four scores together, has Aime as a three-star recruit, listing him as the No. 5 junior college defensive tackle and No. 38 junior college player in the 2016 recruiting class.
Florida State landed Aime's commitment on October 5th of last year, before he had even visited. He made his official visit to Tallahassee November 20th for the Chattanooga game and signed his letter of intent to FSU on December 6th, the first day that junior college players are eligible to sign, and early enrolled at Florida State this month. Aime was committed to Miami for just over a week last summer and also took visits to Minnesota, Louisville, and Kentucky before choosing the Seminoles. In addition to those schools, he had offers from Alabama, Baylor, Auburn, Cincinnati, Temple, Iowa State, and Kansas.
Aime's 6'5, 295 pound frame is on par with the defensive tackles already on Florida State's roster but if he wants immediate playing time, he has plenty of competition. The Seminoles return five interior linemen who played in nine or more games last season in addition to Darvin Taylor II, who redshirted last season, and 2016 early enrollee Cedric Wood.
Because of Aime's length, he may also be able to pitch in at defensive end when Florida State is in a three-man front, much like outgoing senior Giorgio Newberry did in 2015.
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