Florida State Football Recruiting: Seminoles Land Signing Class Of Astonishing Prowess

This report on Florida State football recruiting brought to you by Recruitocosm, and our friends at FanTake.com. Follow them on Twitter at @recruitocosm.

Overall Class Rating – A – This is probably the best class in the country if Bama doesn’t miraculously wrangle the nation’s top prospect, Jadeveon Clowney. Impressive depth, with elite talent across the board. Jimbo Fisher skipped the shot across the bow and deployed a tandem carpet bombing on Gainesville and Coral Gables.

Top 5 Commits

Karlos Williams – S – #7 overall (247), #8 (Rivals)
The best safety in the country. Defensive MVP of the Under Armour All Star Game. 6’2, 210. Yes, please. Come across the middle and he’ll scalp you with a smile.

Nick O’Leary – TE – #16 overall (247), #33 (Rivals)
The best TE in the country

Tony Steward – LB – #12 overall (247), #13 (Rivals)
Steward has yet to commit as of press time, but is a strong Seminoles lean. He has just about everything you could want from a LB, with elite size, speed, and athleticism.

Cornellius Carradine – DE – #1 JUCO (Rivals)
Carradine had offers from Alabama, UGA, Arkansas, and Ohio State, amongst others. The next great Noles DE? The name certainly qualifies.

James Wilder – RB – #27 overall (247), #11 (Rivals)
Perhaps the most talented OLB in the country, he has so far insisted that he will play RB in college. This one is going down to the wire in a fierce battle between the Noles and in-state rival Florida Gators.

Most Likely Early Contributors

Cornellius Carradine – JUCO DE is already on campus.
Nick O’Leary – steps onto a roster currently lacking a quality TE while boasting an NFL-ready body. Clutchy bloodlines from the Nicklaus clan never hurts.

Top Class Sleepers
Arrington Jenkins is a four-star talent at LB rated as a three-star because his grades were thought to give him the chance to enroll at a four-year college. He has supposedly made great progress and should qualify.

The One That Got Away
The recruitment of five-star DE Aaron Lynch was a veritable Magical Mystery Tour. Lynch committed early to Notre Dame, switched his pledge to Florida State amidst rumors he didn’t have the grades to make it to South Bend, before switching back to the Irish just days before the deadline for early enrollment. He’s already taking classes in South Bend, so if he changes his mind again he’ll have to transfer.

Hey, Jealousy
It all starts up front on defense, and Tim Jernigan might be the best defensive lineman in the country not named Clowney. FSU still has a decent shot at Jernigan, but it says here that the big DT heads to Gainseville, no doubt lured by their proud tradition of dudes named "Tim". Can a faith-based charity mission to the Phillippines be far away?

I’m From Mizzourah
James Wilder, Jr. is a big-time athlete, but he’s not worthy of the 5-star rating he carries on Rivals as a RB.

Strongest Position Group
FSU has eight, yes EIGHT, offensive linemen committed, five of whom are rated as four-star players on 247. It’s no secret what position Jimbo has targeted to help retool the Noles’ offense.

Weakest Position Group
FSU has but a single QB committed, Jacob Coker, and he’s rated as a three-star by both 247 and Rivals.

What’s it all mean, Tom Lemming?
Total dominance. This class started strong, with four commits in 2009, and eight more commits before the 2010 season began. It continued strong as FSU took advantage of poor seasons by their main rivals to steal recruits once thought to be locks elsewhere. Nick Waisome, the top cornerback in Florida, was a longtime Gator commit who may or may not have been kicked to the curb by Will Muschamp for being too small (Waisome is listed at 5’10", 170). He’s now a Seminole. Nick O’Leary was thought to favor Miami, but the tides turned after FSU’s beatdown of the Canes in October. 6’6" WR Kelvin Benjamin was a Miami and then a Florida lean at times during his recruitment before committing to FSU. The Noles are famous for signing day switcheroos and this year is no different. Four-star New Jersey OL Josue Matias already switched his commitment from Rutgers to FSU yesterday. Steward should hop on board on National Signing Day. FSU still has a shot at DE Jermauria Rasco and DT Timmy Jernigan, though they’re probably running second or worst for both of those guys.

So did Jimbo adress his needs with his first full class in Tallahassee? I’m of the opinion that the biggest need for any program in any year is to bring in a busload of elite talent across the board. Need met.

Given the comparatively futile recruiting by the rest of the ACC in general and Miami in particular, it’s hard not to see this class playing a huge role if the Noles turns things around as quickly as Fisher hopes. Absurdly, FSU already has six commitments for the class of 2012, all of whom should be national top-100 types. The talent gap between the Seminoles and the rest of the league should soon be so large that the members of this class will play in multiple BCS games, if not a MNC game.

Bobby who?