FSU defensive back breakdown: Where things stand after early signing period

Barring any unexpected departures, the Florida State secondary is slated to return virtually all of its experienced players from the 2019 season.

Only Levonta Taylor, who was injured for a portion of the year, and Kyle Meyers, who was injured for virtually the entire season, are expected to be lost to graduation. Meyers actually still has one year of eligibility remaining because he can take a redshirt for this season, but he was honored on Senior Day. So it seems unlikely that he'll be back in 2020.

Even without them, roughly a dozen players with experience -- most notably, Stanford Samuels III and Asante Samuel Jr. at corner and leading tackler Hamsah Nasirildeen at safety -- are expected back to try to anchor the Seminoles' defense in 2020.

Akeem Dent, A.J. Lytton, Cyrus Fagan, Brendan Gant, Raymond Woodie III, Carlos Becker, Isaiah Bolden and Rendardo Green all saw a good bit of playing time as well in 2019. And talented redshirt freshmen Travis Jay and Jarvis Brownlee also should be in the mix next season.

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So while there wouldn't figure to be a lot of snaps for incoming freshmen to get, new head coach Mike Norvell and new defensive coordinator Adam Fuller aren't putting any limits on what their two signees from the early period can do as freshmen.

In fact, the Seminoles' highest-rated recruit of the cycle is cornerback Demorie Tate, a four-star prospect from Orlando who is ranked the No. 6 CB in the nation by Rivals.com.

Fellow signee Jadarius Green-McKnight is also a four-star recruit.

Here's a closer look at the Seminoles' expected returners in the secondary, along with quotes from Norvell and defensive coordinator Adam Fuller about each of the 2020 signees.