2 FSU football defenders earn preseason All-America nods from CFB News, many others mentioned

A few weeks ago, Phil Steele released his preseason All-America teams, and junior defensive tackle Marvin Wilson was the lone Florida State Seminole to make the cut, as he was honored as a second-team choice.

Wilson has now been named a second-team preseason All-American by College Football News as well— specifically, the No. 3 DT in the country. Here’s what CFB News had to say about Wilson:

The one-time super-recruit started to shine as a sophomore, and now it’s his time to break through as one of the nation’s best defensive linemen. The 6-5, 314-pound top NFL prospect can move, is strong agains [sic] the run, and showed what he could do with 42 tackles with 3.5 sacks.

But this time, Wilson has some company on the All-America team.

Also selected was junior cornerback Stanford Samuels III. He’s a third-team honoree, ranked as the fifth best corner, nationally. The blurb on SSIII reads as follows:

Yet another very big, very talented Florida State defensive back who’ll soon be a star at the next level, the 6-2, 185-pound playmaker showed off his elite talent from the start with two picks and five broken up passes as a freshman, and followed it up with a fantastic 58-tackle, four interception season. With Samuels working along with Asante Samuel, FSU lis [sic] loaded at corner.

Several more FSU players did not achieve preseason All-American status, but were named among the top 30 at their respective positions, across college football. Junior D.J. Matthews got some love as well. CFB News considers him the fifth best punt returner in the land, citing his 19 returns for a 13.5 yard average and a score.

Junior running back Cam Akers is considered the country’s No. 9 running back, with this explanation:

Eventually he’ll show off all he can do. He has yet to work behind a strong line, and last season he wasn’t healthy enough to overcome the offense’s issues. The 5-11, 212-pound five-star talent only ran for 706 yards and six scores, but he’s a great receiver, has the talent to be the star of the attack, and has all the skills to finally put it all together.

The aforementioned Samuel, a sophomore, was mentioned as the nation’s 21st best CB:

The son of the former NFL star of the same name, he was supposed to be an elite player right away, and he was. He’s not huge at 5-10 and 178 pounds, but he was able to hold up when picked on with nine broken up passes and 17 tackles in a true freshman season. And now he gets to start on a regular basis.

A nod also went to junior tight end Tre’ McKitty, deemed the No. 24 TE, nationally:

The talent is there to blow up into a dangerous playmaker for an offense that needs more of them. The 6-5, 245-pound receiver only averaged 9.85 yards per grab, but he caught 26 passes for 256 yards and two scores.

Finally, junior Hamsah Nasirildeen was mentioned as the country’s No. 26 safety:

The 6-4, 215-pounder came out and played well in the rotation as a freshman, and then he turned it on last season with a team-high 91 tackles with a pick. The hybrid safety/linebacker in the FSU system hasn’t done a whole lot against the pass yet, and he’s only been a part-time starter so far, but both of those things are about to change.