It was only a few months ago that Blake Nichelson arrived in Tallahassee having never played linebacker before.

Now, the true freshman has already played linebacker in three games for the Florida State football team this season. Even though he hadn't played the position before enrolling at FSU this past summer.

"In high school, I was mostly a running back or a safety, stuff like that. Actually having to have responsibilities now and plug-fit stuff, it's all new to me," Nichelson said Tuesday. "I'm just getting a hold of it, but I feel like I have caught onto it pretty fast by now. I feel like from here, it's only going to get better and better."

Nichelson wasn't just any high-school running back/defensive back at Ripon (Calif.) Manteca High. He was exceptional at both things. Over his junior and senior seasons, Nichelson amassed 3,950 rushing yards, 1,084 receiving yards and 84 total touchdowns (63 rushing, 21 receiving) on offense to go along with 93 tackles, 11.5 sacks, eight pass deflections and two interceptions on defense. He also returned two punts a combined 119 yards his senior season.

But FSU sold Nichelson on his future at the collegiate level coming at linebacker, a position he hadn't really played. And the FSU staff did a good enough job selling him on it that they convinced him to move all the way across the country to enroll at FSU over Oregon and UCLA.

That doesn't mean Nichelson's position transition was always easy. He admits there were times where learning a defensive position with more structure and assignments on a play-by-play basis than what he had in high school was definitely challenging.

"I had a lot of frustrations. Still do sometimes. It's just understanding this new position, it's something new for me," Nichelson said. "There will be times where I'll be down, thinking too much like, 'Am I going to ever master this?' You've just got to overcome that. I feel like I have a good understanding of how to get over that and overcome those thoughts."

And yet, he got in for one play on defense late in FSU's surprising blowout of LSU and then played 23 snaps the following week vs. Southern Miss. In that game, Nichelson immediately showed how his innate athleticism will help him adapt to a new position even if it wasn't the smoothest transition.

Late in the USM game, Nichelson got caught covering a wheel route being run by a running back out of the backfield. While this could be a problem for quite a few running backs, Nichelson's athleticism allowed him to stay with his assignment, adjust to the ball coming his way and nearly come down with a leaping interception, denied only by a foot coming down just out of bounds. He also recorded three solo tackles and two more assisted tackles in his first extended playing time with 23 defensive snaps in that game.

"I've talked to him a little bit about the excitement for his future" FSU head coach Mike Norvell said of how quickly Nichelson has picked up his new position. "To do all the things that we do, to not have that extra five months there in the spring to come in and learn just so many things fundamentally within the position. I think coach (Randy) Shannon has done a great job with him as well of bringing him along. He's going to be a fun one to watch as he continues to grow up because he is a natural playmaker."

Nichelson has shown enough both in limited defensive reps and on special teams (kickoff coverage) that when redshirt senior linebacker Tatum Bethune was held out for last week's game vs. Virginia Tech, he was called up into FSU's two-deep rotation.

He played 12 snaps in FSU's home ACC opener against the Hokies, taking an opportunity that certainly seemed unlikely mere months ago as a brand new linebacker.

"We felt really confident about what it is going to look like for him. With Tatum’s reps being really limited and really down on defense to be honest with you, we knew Omar’s (Graham) reps would go up. DJ's (Lundy) and Kalen’s (DeLoach) reps would stay similar. We would have to eat some of those reps and Blake was the next man up," FSU defensive coordinator Adam Fuller said of Nichelson. "You can’t replicate experience, especially in real time. I think we’ll continue to see Blake in that development. He’s actually shown up in special teams in a really good way. He’s done some good things on kickoff cover. Just continue to build things off of what Blake gave us."

Weighing just 215 pounds as a true freshman who hasn't yet had the benefit of an entire offseason in FSU strength and conditioning director Josh Storms' program, Nichelson said Wednesday he hopes to get up to 225 ahead of his second season with the program.

A full offseason diving more into the intricacies of his new position — as opposed to being thrown into the deep end like he was in August — will certainly help his development as well.

"I feel like I have picked it up a lot since the summer. At first, I had no idea. It was kind of hard for me, especially with motions my head would start spinning. Now, the game has slowed down a little bit for me. I'm able to scan the field and fit my reads..." Nichelson said. "What keeps me confident is just my athletic ability. I feel like I rely a lot on that. I've always been confident in my game. I've never really thought down on myself. I've always thought that I'm able to play at this level so that's what keeps me confident in my position."

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