Defensive Tackles: Five things to know about FSU's interior linemen
Editor's Note: With preseason practice starting on Aug. 9, Warchant is previewing the upcoming Florida State football season by looking at each position group on offense, defense and special teams. The seventh installment in our preview series is on the defensive tackles.
Earlier Previews: Running back | Quarterback | Wide Receiver | Offensive Line | Linebackers | Defensive Ends
The Big Picture
A system built upon depth and rotations should lead to Florida State's defensive tackles playing a significant role in 2016.
The Seminoles lost a pair of seniors to graduation -- the venerable Nile Lawrence-Stample and the resurgent Giorgio Newberry -- yet there are still plenty of options.
Then-sophomore Derrick Nnadi was one of the team's breakout players on defense last season. He started all 13 games and recorded 45 tackles and two sacks. FSU also found reliability in then-redshirt freshman Demarcus Christmas. Christmas also played in all 13 games and picked up 19 tackles.
Barring something unexpected, FSU's top pairing will be Christmas and Nnadi to start the season.
But that's not to say there won't be challengers for the starting jobs and playing time. FSU is both big and deep at defensive tackle, with at least seven (and as many as nine or 10) scholarship players available for the two spots. The team's average scholarship defensive tackle stands around 6-foot-3 and weighs about 316 pounds.
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