FSU football lands former Alabama linebacker Adonis Thomas

Florida State beefed up a routinely thin position group today, gaining the commitment of linebacker Adonis Thomas. Thomas (6-3, 230) will head to Tallahassee from Northwest Mississippi Community College, where he was considered the nation’s No. 2 JUCO LB prospect, and the No. 16 junior college player in the country, overall.

Before attending NMCC, Thomas was at Alabama, which he chose after flipping from an earlier high school commitment to Florida. Thomas is a product of Lawrenceville, Georgia, where he attended Central Gwinnett High School. He had other transfer offers from Penn State, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State.

Thomas’ principle FSU recruiters were Jay Graham and Charles Kelly, and he becomes just the second inside linebacker in the Seminoles’ 2017 recruiting class, along with legacy commit DeCalon Brooks. The class also includes DeMarco Artis, but he’s considered more of an outside linebacker at present. Thomas has three of eligibility remaining.

Thomas is an excellent athlete, and should factor in for playing time immediately in Tallahassee.

As Publisher Bud Elliott recently explained, Florida State has some uncertainty at the linebacker position.

There are several uncertainties at linebacker currently on FSU’s roster. Junior Matthew Thomas had a rough start to the year, but came on late. But Thomas has been ineligible and/or suspended in previous seasons, and has not made it known if he will return for 2017.

Sophomore Sh’Mar Kilby-Lane was also academically ineligible for 2016, and it is not known if he will be eligible for 2017.

And linebacker Delvin Purifoy has not regained his form after a devastating lower leg/ankle injury suffered two years ago. Suffice to say, FSU might not be as deep at the linebacker position as a quick glance at the roster might suggest.

That is why it was brought up on the Nolecast recently that FSU may need to expand its linebacker board.

Florida State now has 14 commitments in the 2017 class, including seven four- and five-stars. The class is rated 13th nationally as of Friday, with much upward mobility expected.