Florida State legacy Stanford Samuels III set to leave his own mark at FSU

In an early enrollee class chock full of talent, perhaps the most familiar name to the Florida State fanbase is that of Stanford Samuels III.

He is the son of former Florida State cornerback Stanford Samuels Jr., who was at FSU from 1999-2003 and accumulated six interceptions over his collegiate career. In many ways, the younger Samuels’ ceiling is higher than that of his father’s.

Samuels III, who measures in at 6’2, 175 pounds and played his high school football at Hollywood Flanagan (FL), is a four-star cornerback according to 247Sports’ composite rankings. The composite rankings list him as the No. 38 overall player in the 2017 recruiting class as well as the No. 4 cornerback and the No. 6 player in Florida.

From the beginning of his recruitment, Samuels made it clear that he wanted to come to his own decision and refused to blindly follow in his father’s footsteps to Florida State. In the end, however, Samuels committed to FSU while at Jimbo Fisher Camp in June of last year. He may have taken visits to Michigan and Alabama before his official to Tallahassee for the Florida game on November 26th, but his status as a Florida State commit has remained solid since he made the decision.

In addition to Florida State, Samuels held scholarship offers from 40 other programs, including the likes of Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Michigan, Oklahoma, Auburn, LSU, Louisville, Florida, and Miami.

Samuels, who was a five-star recruit until late in the recruiting cycle, enrolled at Florida State in early January, making him eligible for the Seminoles’ upcoming spring game in April. Entering spring practice, he figures to be one of the contenders to replace Marquez White as the Seminoles’ starting field cornerback, likely battling with sophomore Levonta Taylor, among others.

Check out our evaluation of SS III below, from a high school coach on our staff.

The first thing you have to say about Stanford Samuels III is that he is a technician. Having been trained by his father, Samuels has some of the most refined technique you will see by a high schooler. He is an elite cornerback prospect due to his length, technical skills, and speed. Hobbled by a shoulder injury for much of the season, Samuels’ ranking took a dip. But don’t be fooled, he is as good as it gets at corner.

It’s impressive to see a CB of Samuels’ size be able to bend at the ankles and hips in his backpedal. He gets out over his toes and is very smooth transitioning out of his pedal, staying balanced. He also has no wasted movement in his pedal, which allows him to drive on routes and stay in the receiver’s hip pocket. Samuels is willing to fill on run plays and is not afraid to stick his nose in on ball carriers. He shows the ability to be a zone or man corner, but with his length he could be a press-man nightmare for receivers.