FSU continues its recent off-season hot streak, securing the commitment of Fabien Lovett, a Mississippi State defensive tackle transfer. Lovett hails from Mississippi and was a player Norvell targeted during his time at Memphis. Once Lovett announced his decision to transfer, Norvell and Chris Marve (LB coach from MSU) didn’t waste any time showing interest and extending an offer. At 6’4, 315 pounds, Lovett has great size and looks primed to be an asset. But other than a massive frame, what does he bring to the FSU defense? Before we get started, let’s take a look at Fabien Lovett:
With that out of the way, let’s get started.
Power
Lovett looks to build off a solid redshirt freshman season at Mississippi State. His quickness, ability to shoot and fill gaps, and ultimately, disrupt the backfield makes him a nice prospect at defensive tackle. The qualities that leap out at you are his power and overall strength. Lovett has a thick build and possesses great upper and lower-body strength, which is always on display. As you can see in his film, Lovett lives in the backfield, completely manhandling the guy in front of him. Although the opponents in college are much larger, Lovett has had success winning at the point of attack.
Block Shedding/Controlling the block
Lovett does a great job using his hands when engaging the opponent and striking, while maintaining good eye-discipline. This allows him to control the momentum of the lineman, before disengaging and shedding the blocker to stop the ballcarrier. Once you factor in Lovett’s ability to plug and fill gaps, while playing with good visual key discipline, it’s easy to understand why the FSU coaches (and linebackers!) are excited to add him to the team.
Pushing the Pocket
Lovett plays the game with tenacity and aggression, with an emphasis to set the tone at and during the course of the game. With his size and strength, I believe he could end up backing up Marvin Wilson as the 1 tech and Big Coop sliding out to the 3 tech behind Durden. This would be even more plausible if Lovett shows good hand-technique and a ability to strain blocks. With that said, I believe he’s capable of lining up at the 3 and being quite serviceable. His ability to collapse the pocket is exactly what you want out of your nose tackle, as he’ll be asked to occupy space, push the pocket, and make the QB uncomfortable.
With Lovett in the fold, FSU now has quality depth at the defensive tackle tackle position, joining Marvin Wilson, Cory Durden, Robert Cooper, Dennis Briggs Jr, and Tru Thompson.