With the start of spring football practice less than three weeks away, the Warchant staff is looking at Five Big Questions facing the Florida State Seminoles this spring. As we count down those questions in reverse order (from No. 5 to No. 1), each installment will feature comments from Warchant publisher Gene Williams, managing editor Ira Schoffel and lead beat writer Ryan S. Clark.
Each installment also will feature a podcast discussion by our staff. The podcast will cover some of the points from the article as well as further comments from each panelist. Please be sure to read the article and also listen to the podcast.
Question No. 4: Could this 2017 FSU defense be the Seminoles' best unit since the 2013 national championship season?
IRA SCHOFFEL: It should be, and it really needs to be.
Last year, there were some valid reasons for why that defense struggled in the first half of the year. There were a number of players taking on new roles – whether that be guys moving from backup to starter or from starter to expected team leader – and there were some growing pains associated with that. There also were a rash of injuries at safety, and we all know that they faced a very challenging early season schedule.
But barring another rash of injuries, those excuses should be in the past. Nine of the 11 starters are back, and they are players who have performed at a high level in the past. By the end of the 2016 season, that defense was often dominant.
Having said all that, we have to recognize that losing DeMarcus Walker is a big deal. And I haven’t seen enough out of Josh Sweat or Brian Burns to know that they can make up for that loss – at least in terms of consistency. And we still have to see if Burns can be an every-down player, as opposed to a pass-rushing specialist. But with so many returning players, and some impressive newcomers joining in, there is no reason that this shouldn’t be FSU’s best defense since 2013.
