Every team has attrition. The Noles are no exception -- especially at offensive line. Below we update four big uglies who could've provided quality depth this year and/or last, now playing on a different school's OL. And there are others. Maybe they didn't make the grade in the Trickett School of Hard Knocks, or flunked out or left on their own accord. Maybe it was due to poor evaluation of talent and character. But one thing is clear. Their loss left big holes in FSU's depth chart. Is it any wonder a 17-year old freshman is starting at left tackle?
Antwane Greenlee
A Rivals 4-Star OL in 2007, Greenlee was bitten by the injury bug. In August of 2009 his right knee was scoped and two bone chips removed. Reports early this year were that the 6’6” linemen with so much promise had never fully recovered from the knee mess. Jimbo told the press that if Greenlee’s knee allows him to play, that he would transfer. Huh? If the knee was okay, why transfer, unless he was deemed too damaged or didn’t measure up to Trickett standards? FSU's loss is North Alabama's gain.
Brandon Davis
Davis goes all the way back to the Noles 2006 class. A 3-Star from Miami, he took a redshirt his freshman year. As a junior in 2009 he found himself in Trickett’s doghouse. This newspaper account sounds like Trickett was either trying to run Davis off or challenge him in a tough love kind of way. By 2010, in what would have been his senior year, Davis was just another college student. Graduating with a degree in Sports Rec he headed to UNA for his final season of eligibility. Davis told the local paper in Florence that "UNA has fewer distractions, whereas in FSU, there were lots of parties.”
Will Furlong
Another member of the ill-fated 2007 class, Furlong was rated one of the top 50 players in Florida. In 2008 he’d become “one of Florida State’s most valuable offensive lineman during the first half of the…season,” according to this 2009 story, which gets into his lingering foot injury and possibility that his “playing days at FSU could be over.” They were. With a redshirt year, Furlong might have added depth this year on the Noles’ OL. Instead he’s at UNA, injuries and all. The Lions offensive coordinator calls Furlong “one of the top tackles in our conference.”
Daron Rose
This one’s all on Daron. The big guy was a recruiting coup for the Noles in 2006, a 4-Star that Rivals tabbed the nations’s second best OL. He was a handful for defensive linemen, but one thing he didn’t hit so well was the books. By May of 2008 he left to improve his grades at a JC. Rose later committed to USF but never played. After attending a junior college in Brooklyn, he finally got his act together at North Alabama.
Comments