Football

ESPN is counting down the top 100 players in college football based on their expected contribution this year. Through 20 entries the Noles have place 2 on the list.

Travis Rudolph:

Throughout spring Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher showered Rudolph with praise. Fisher demands consistency from his receivers, and Rudolph provided it in a breakout spring. He proved himself as an irreplaceable commodity in spring drills, so Fisher kept him in a non-contact jersey to make sure he was ready for the season.

Marquez White:

Jalen Ramsey overshadowed White last season, but White excelled at cornerback alongside the future top-five pick. Since dropping basketball and focusing solely on football, White's developed into one of the ACC's best defensive backs. He'll earn more of a spotlight this season.

Athlon

Our Bud Elliott and three other experts joined the Athlon Sports Podcast to discuss Florida State, Clemson, Alabama and Ohio State. Give a listen:

Speaking of the defensive backfield could Derwin James be better than Jalen Ramsey? One ACC coach thinks so.

Following that link link down to the Athlon article is quite fun. Athlon spoke to ACC coaches and asked them what they thought of their conference mates. Sometimes the comments are head scratchers but taken out of context like this may be part of the problem.

“They’re probably not quite where they want to be at corner, but Levonta Taylor is talented enough to step right in as a freshman and help.”

Apparently SI thinks the Florida State-Clemson match up will be the pivotal point for both teams this year.

Also, I’ve heard this a few times and it’s tough to argue. Might need a few more years of this level of play to match Alabama-LSU.

Staff size

Speaking of Alabama ESPN has a nice article on the ever expanding coaching staffs in college football. It’s certainly an instance of the rich getting richer and where you fall on this topic likely involves where your team falls on that spectrum.

"They want you to be accountable for your players, but then they want to complain when you have a good staff in place to help you do that," he said. "I've never understood that argument. You can't run Nike the same as you run Joe's Mom & Pop Shoe Store. It's just a difference, and it's always going to be that way. You can't run East Carolina the same way as the University of Alabama. It just is what it is."

As noted in that article graphical designers are becoming more important to college football programs. Might FSU’s new official scholarship offers been a result of this?

Do you even lift, bro?

Summer has been good to a few Noles (L to R: Tarvarus McFadden, Noonie Murray, Auden Tate).

Recruiting

Florida State lost the commitment of legacy linebacker Bradley Jennings Jr., a three-star linebacker recruit who was the lowest-rated player in the class. He looks to be heading to Miami, as Bud Elliott explained here. FSU didn’t want to lose him, but he’s not a huge loss. Demarco Artis (3* DE), of Sanford Seminole seems likely to flip his commitment from UCF to FSU soon after FSU extended an official offer.

Fandom!

Grant Mehlich, the president of the Tampa Bay Seminole Club is an avid Tomahawk Nation reader. He asked us to pass along information on their annual block party. Many of us have attended in the past and this thing is a blast. Here’s the info:

The Tampa Bay Seminole Club is hosting their annual kickoff party on August 13 in Historic Ybor City. The event is called the Tampa Noles Block Party and it is HUGE! Last year over 3,500 guests, flew and drove in from all over the country. This year is going to be even bigger as more than 4000 attendees are expected. If your looking for a FSU GameDay type atmosphere, spanning 3 city blocks, then this event is for you.

In addition, FSU Grid-iron greats such as Lonnie Pryor, P.k. Sam, Phil Doumar and others, will be in attendance and will answer your questions about the upcoming FSU Football Season.

We had a lot of fun last year at this event and we think you will as well.

Tickets MUST be purchased beforehand. Cost is $25 online and can be purchased at tampanolesparty.com.

FB Account: https://www.facebook.com/tampanoles/