FSU Seminoles

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- By any significant measure, the difference between Timmy Jernigan's role as a reserve the past two seasons and the starting job that awaits him in 2013 shouldn't be a major overhaul.

Jernigan was already on the field for a majority of snaps throughout most games, and his impact on the defensive line already included more tackles than any other FSU interior lineman in 2012. Still, there's something about hearing his name announced before each game and knowing he's officially secured the job of starter on a unit that's been among the best in the nation in recent years that Jernigan relishes.

"I've been waiting a long time," he said. "So I'm really excited about it."

Jernigan's enthusiasm isn't entirely inflated either. Sure, his playing time isn't likely to shift dramatically, and he's already proven he's capable of handling a sizable role on the defense. But what's truly different for the junior defensive tackle in 2013 isn't about reps or tackles but about his place in the hierarchy of the defense.

For the past two seasons, FSU's line has been the foundation of its defensive scheme. The unit has helped the Seminoles finish in the top three in the nation stopping the run in both 2011 and 2012, and last month, it sent five players on to the NFL, including all of last year's starters.

That, of course, means a massive overhaul for the unit, but thanks to Jernigan's presence -- along with potential breakout stars like Mario Edwards Jr. and Eddie Goldman -- the expectations haven't dipped much. And that's a burden Jernigan hadn't been asked to carry before.

"I feel like it's my D-line now," Jernigan said. "I'm trying to be a leader."

When it comes to production, there's little reason to question Jernigan's ability to handle a bigger share of the spotlight. As a reserve the past two seasons, he's racked up 76 tackles, including 14 for a loss, and four sacks. Despite playing behind Anthony McCloud and Everett Dawkins -- both in NFL camps now -- Jernigan established himself as a star, and he's already currying attention as a potential first-round selection in next year's draft.

That attention is nice, he admits, but his bigger role in 2013 isn't about burnishing his resume for the next level.

"It inspired me to work even harder toward what I want," Jernigan said. "I'm not really worried about the NFL or anything like that because there's so much more I feel like I have to do here in Tallahassee. I'll worry about that when it's time."

What Jernigan needs to do this season isn't simply a repeat of past performance either.

Jimbo Fisher has been quick to shrug off concerns about the massive changes on the defensive line, noting that Jernigan and Demonte McAllister were already FSU's most productive tackles, but it's hard to ignore the notion that life gets more difficult without established talent surrounding them.

That means Jernigan has to pick up the slack as the centerpiece of the line and help bring along the younger talent alongside him.

Before an ankle injury sidelined him midway through the spring, Jernigan was taking reps alongside a bevy of potential partners on the line, from veterans like Jacobbi McDaniel and Giorgio Newberry to youngsters like Edwards and Goldman. The rotations, he expects, will continue well into the fall, but he admits it's hard not to be impressed by the potential of some of the young guns.

"I like what they're doing because they're asking questions, they're very humble," Jernigan said. "They understand we have all the talent in the world up front but the biggest thing is we've got to get everything going. Those guys are going to be just fine. It's just a matter of understanding what you're doing. Not understanding slows you down, but those guys are going to be just fine."

Of course, Jernigan is dealing with a bit of a learning curve, too. While his position group was spared in the overhaul of FSU's coaching staff this offseason, the new, aggressive schemes being implemented by defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt have added some wrinkles to what had been a relatively straightforward approach.

But like the move from reserve to starter, Jernigan sees the changes as an opportunity to impress.

"That's what I like," Jernigan said. "I like to get off the ball and attack blockers rather than absorb them. It's going to be a positive. I'm very excited about it."

When summer workouts began a year ago, players like Menelik Watson, Demonte McAllister and Nick Waisome were flying under the radar with little in the way of expectations. By season's end, however, they were among Florida State's most productive players.

It happens every year that a few relatively obscure names find their way into bigger roles, and as the Seminoles get set to start another summer NoleNation is counting down five under-the-radar players who could be in line for breakthrough seasons.

Next up: Nile Lawrence-Stample

Career arc: A well-regarded recruit, Lawrence-Stample played just one season at defensive tackle in high school. That translated to a slightly steeper learning curve upon arrival at FSU. He redshirted as a true freshman in 2011, and he saw extremely limited playing time in 2012, recording 10 tackles for the season.

Why he's overlooked: Despite losing its two starters, Florida State is still deep at defensive tackle. McAllister and Timmy Jernigan are veterans with solid seasons already under their belt, and they figure to step into starting roles in 2013. Meanwhile, senior Jacobbi McDaniel returns from an injury and highly touted sophomore Eddie Goldman looks to take the next step in his career, pushing both Lawrence-Stample and fellow sophomore Derrick Mitchell to the back of the pack.

Why he'll produce: Earning playing time may still be an uphill battle at a crowded position, but Jimbo Fisher was effusive in his praise of Lawrence-Stample following an impressive spring game performance in which he recorded three sacks. Fisher said no player on FSU's defense improved more over the course of the spring, and at 315 pounds, he could be a force in the middle of the defensive line if an opportunity arises.

Projection: With so much talent surrounding him, it's tough to project a significant role for Lawrence-Stample at the moment, but both Jernigan and McAllister missed significant time this spring with injuries, and Mitchell and McDaniel both have problematic injury histories, too. It's not an ideal way to earn playing time, but as the Seminoles learned at defensive end a year ago, depth on the line is tested often, and Lawrence-Stample's progress in Year 3 offers plenty of reason for optimism.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Spring practice arrived with some significant questions, and it ended with at least a slightly clearer indication of some answers. This week, we'll take a look at five of the biggest question marks of the spring and decipher what we learned and how much further the Seminoles have to go before the season kicks off.

Next up: The defensive line

The question: Five former starters are gone, likely all headed to the NFL, so what will become of Florida State's once-vaunted defensive line without Bjoern Werner, Cornellius Carradine and Co.?

The possibilities: The interior of the line appears to be in good hands with Timmy Jernigan stepping into a starting role, freshman Eddie Goldman getting a crack at a bigger job, and veterans like Demonte McAllister and Jacobbi McDaniel around to provide stability. On the edge, there are bigger questions as Mario Edwards Jr. looks to live up to his recruiting hype, Dan Hicks returns to defense, and Giorgio Newberry and Chris Casher work to establish themselves.

What we learned this spring: Perhaps the biggest lesson of the spring wasn't about who would fill the void on the defensive line but rather how new coordinator Jeremy Pruitt planned to scheme around it.

It's not that the pass-rush responsibilities will be shifted completely away from the defensive ends, and technically speaking, FSU isn't moving toward the 3-4 base defense Pruitt ran at Alabama, but there have clearly been some marked changes to the scheme.

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Jameis Winston lingered on the practice field, offering some small solace and encouragement to each player who trudged away after Jimbo Fisher called an abrupt end to what he described as an "awful" day of work for Florida State. After Fisher finished a post-practice debriefing with media, Clint Trickett was waiting outside the coach's office to offer his own counsel.

A day like Wednesday could be a line of demarcation for FSU's quarterbacks, giving Fisher a chance to see how they handle the adversity of an atrocious practice session. The only problem, Fisher said, was he wished he'd seen more of it sooner.

"It's easy to do it afterwards," Fisher said. "The key is recognizing when it's happening and then call it together, and I wish they'd done a better job of that."

Still, the day's struggles couldn't be pinned entirely on the quarterbacks, Fisher said. It was a group effort, and the four men battling for the starting QB job actually were among the least conspicuous offenders.

As spring practice draws to a close -- just one practice session remains before the spring game -- Fisher has seen progress from his quarterbacks, and while he's not giving away any secrets on where the depth chart currently stands, it certainly sounds like it's becoming more of a two-man race.

In Monday's scrimmage, it was Winston and Trickett who got the bulk of the first-team reps, and both turned in strong performances.

Winston completed 8 of 15 for 129 yards with an interception, adding 16 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

"He puts the ball on the money -- even his deep balls, every touch he has on the short routes," safety Terrence Brooks said. "He throws it as soon as they come out of their breaks, which makes it harder for us. He does a great job of looking us off and having us on edge all the time."

Trickett completed 17 of 28 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns.

"Clint gets out of the pocket very well, but he still looks downfield to make the plays," Brooks said. "It looks like a toss-up to me. ... I'm glad I don't have to make that decision. That's on Jimbo."

Jacob Coker and Sean Maguire remain in the competition but largely worked with the second-team offense during Monday's scrimmage. Coker completed 10 of 17 passes for 162 yards and an interception, while Maguire was a solid 8 of 15 for 102 yards and a touchdown.

Saturday's spring game could be the next step in making that decision for Fisher, but Thursday's return to the practice field after such an ugly performance might factor in, too.

"We were not mentally ready to practice and that will get you beat," Fisher said. "If we haven't learned that lesson around here by now, we're going to get that point across, I promise."

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida State defensive end Giorgio Newberry walked into the room, cradling his black playbook, and sat down on a folding chair.

By the looks of it, the book should have made a monstrous thud when he went to put it down. Newberry placed the book gently on the floor, though, and laughed when he was innocuously asked, "So that playbook is bigger than your old one, huh?"

The new book, a huge three-ringed binder stuffed full, features more blitzes, and some new assignments for players used to the old way of doing things. While the Seminoles will remain a 4-3 base defense, they are going to be using all of their players in different ways.

That means a guy like Newberry -- all 6-foot-6 inches and 273 pounds of him -- will be dropping back into pass coverage on occasion as he transitions to play the jack position, an end/linebacker mashup.

And no, Newberry has never actually covered anybody in the pass game before.

"It’s pretty fun actually, getting an opportunity to run in space, show my athleticism off," Newberry said recently. "I have the speed for a big guy. I have a lot of range. I’m pretty long and tall so that should help me, too. I’ll still be rushing sometimes but it’s almost like I’ll be rushing, dropping, rushing dropping even though I’ll be rushing still."

Newberry is not the only defensive lineman in the spotlight this spring. They all are, as questions persist about how the Seminoles are going to look up front with starters Bjoern Werner, Tank Carradine, Everett Dawkins and Anthony McCloud gone. The good news is a wealth of experienced players return.

Coach Jimbo Fisher consulted his stat sheet to prove it. He starts with tackles Timmy Jernigan and Demonte McAllister, who were more productive than Dawkins and McCloud. End Mario Edwards Jr. started at the end of the season; Newberry has game experience; Jacobbi McDaniel is back; Eddie Goldman has been "coming on like wildfire"; and expectations are high for Chris Casher.

"They still have to prove it, but from we still feel very comfortable that we can be very physical and very dominating up front. Very strong," Fisher said.

To that end, players like Newberry and Jernigan are preparing themselves for breakout seasons in this new defensive style that first-year coordinator Jeremy Pruitt brought with him from Alabama.

"This," Newberry says, "is a killer defense."

How good can it be once everybody learns the entire system?

"Our defense is going to be just as good as last year, if not better," Newberry said. "Because we have a new system, people are younger and we have more people."

Jernigan chimed in later with his own take: "As far as stats go, I feel like this will be my biggest year. I feel like I’m going to have a very good year this year.

"I’ve been preparing, I’ve been working very hard in the weight room, in the classroom making sure I have no extra stress. Then the style of the defense, we’re a little more aggressive up front and that’s the way I like to play. I like the physicality, I like to get off the ball, hurry up and get my hands on the blockers. I think that’s going to help, we’re going to be attacking a lot more."

Attacking from all over the field, in fact. Florida State has a deep history and tradition to uphold defensively, especially after ranking No. 2 in the nation in defense last year. The only team ahead was Alabama, and now the Noles have the Tide's former defensive coordinator.

Fisher, however, wanted to be sure to emphasize the Noles are keeping much of what they did in the past in place, even though it seems they may be radically changing. Alabama does run a 3-4 base. Florida State will not. Simply put: There will be a few new twists -- OK a lot more twists -- in the playbook, sorta like sprucing up the garden for spring.

"We're a 4-3 team," he said. "If you go back and look last year, we were about 25 percent 3-4 last year. If you go back and watch Alabama’s film, there’s only about 8-to-10 3-4 snaps a game. They might not have been as much 3-4 as we were a year ago. Believe that or not. You may stand a guy up to create a mismatch, we did that with Bjoern and Tank and Brandon (Jenkins) all the time. We were a bunch of 3-4. Perception’s not always reality."

That may end up being the perfect description for this defensive line in 2013.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida State wrapped up its first scrimmage of the spring Monday, but if Jimbo Fisher is any closer to picking a starting quarterback, he's playing his cards awfully close to his chest.

"Ain't even close," he said even before he could be pushed on the subject.

Still, Monday's practice gave the four men vying for the job a chance to test their knowledge without Fisher looking over their shoulders on each play, and for the most part, the coach said he's pleased with the results.

"Guys did some nice things, but we've got a long way to go," Fisher said.

Fisher insisted each of the four quarterbacks rotated with the first- and second-team offenses, though left tackle Cameron Erving said his starting line worked more with Jameis Winston and Clint Trickett than the others.

In any case, Fisher said he made a point to put each quarterback in adverse situations to see how they might react.

"We wanted to see pass blocking and we wanted to see the quarterbacks set in the pocket vs. a live blitz, making them stay in the pocket and making the line have to block," Fisher said. "We wanted to do that deliberately."

While most of this is old hat for Trickett, who is now in his fourth year of scrimmages in Fisher's offense, Winston, Sean Maguire and Jacob Coker all had moments of optimism Monday, which fit well with what Fisher was expecting.

He's still far from the finish line in deciding this competition, but the upside is that the four contenders aren't making it any easier.

"It kind of reaffirmed some things I'm seeing in practice, which is that I'm not unhappy at all," Fisher said. "They need to be more consistent, but I imagined that right now in terms of where we're at."

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida State's first practice of the spring Wednesday offered few similarities to the way the 2012 season concluded.

A wealth of players have moved on, though Menelik Watson still mixed with his former teammates on the offensive line as Bobby Hart worked at his old position with the first-team offense. Thanks to construction of the new indoor practice facility, even the surroundings were off. But the biggest difference was the raised voices of a bevy of new coaches running through drills that resembled those led by Mark Stoops and James Coley a year ago, but now came with a distinctly new tenor.

"They're a little in shell shock right now," said new defensive ends coach Sal Sunseri. "They're probably in there saying, 'Boy, the man is crazy.' But I want them to think that."

Sunseri was perhaps the most vocal of the new coaches, but there was plenty of volume to go around. New quarterbacks coach Randy Sanders helped Jimbo Fisher corral four candidates vying for the starting job. Charles Kelly, Jay Graham and Tim Brewster barked at their position groups, and Jeremy Pruitt commanded his first practice as a college coordinator.

For all the changes, however, Fisher said the day went smoothly.

"Most of those guys know the tempo of what we do in practice, how we practice, so it really wasn't that big a change," Fisher said. "It's the same tempo of practice, but they may emphasize a different individual drill, add a call or two, just the verbiage. Some of the new stuff was a little different."

Considering the mass of walk-ons, a bevy of players adjusting to new roles and the rust that comes from nearly three months without an official, organized practice, there was still a few moments of chaos -- P.J. Williams caught grief for not wearing his helmet, Giorgio Newberry heard an earful following a misstep during a drill -- and the assignments weren't entirely sharp. That's to be expected on Day 1, Sunseri said, but it's not exactly tolerated.

"The kids are open, they're listening -- and I'm going to ride them," Sunseri said. "I'm going to ride them because it's not easy to do what we're asking them to do."

The hope is things progress quickly as Fisher and his new assistants install more of FSU's offense and defense for Day 2 of practices Thursday. But as starting points go, Fisher said, Wednesday's work was encouraging.

"It's never where you want it to be on the first day, but I'm not displeased at all," Fisher said.

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From the impending quarterback competition to finding replacements for departing juniors, Jimbo Fisher will have his work cut out for him during the next few months as he lays the groundwork for 2013.

With that in mind, we're going to go position-by-position looking at Florida State's strengths and weaknesses as the Seminoles prepare for the start of spring practice.

Previously: Cornerback, Wide Receivers and Tight Ends

Next up: Defensive Tackles

2012 recap: Florida State's defensive line was as hyped as any unit in the country entering the season, and the veteran group did little to disappoint, despite a heavy dose of injuries. While the ends took top billing, it was once again the run stuffers up the middle that set the tone. Seniors Everett Dawkins and Anthony McCloud turned in their usual quiet-but-productive seasons, while Timmy Jernigan proved his freshman campaign was no fluke, blossoming into one of the most dominant interior linemen in the country as a sophomore. Demonte McAllister took a step forward as a junior and Eddie Goldman, the highly touted freshman, played sparingly but effectively. Overall, the tackles helped Florida State finish third in rush defense nationally, the second straight year it finished in the top 3.

Departures: Stalwarts Dawkins and McCloud were never the most hyped guys on FSU's defense, but for the past two seasons, they were often the foundation of a unit that dominated opposing run games. Both departed at year's end as seniors, part of a massive overhaul on the D line that will see the Seminoles replace all four of their starters. Still, there's a wealth of talent -- as many as six potential impact players -- at the tackle position that should make for a relatively smooth transition.

Arrivals: Four-star commitment DeMarcus Walker (Sandalwood/Jacksonville, Fla.) is among FSU's most prized recruits from the class of 2013, while the Seminoles will also add a top recruit from the 2009 class when senior Jacobbi McDaniel finally returns from an ankle injury that kept him out for much of the past two seasons. Redshirt freshman Justin Shanks (6-2, 340) should be an intriguing addition to the lineup as well.

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Five assistant coaches and three juniors all left Florida State for greener pastures in the past six weeks, and a bevy of senior talent from the 2012 ACC champions departs as well. While the spring always brings hope for players to work their way up the depth chart, this year will offer a wealth of opportunities for some younger Seminoles to impress new coaches and win some vacant jobs.

That's good news for a handful of once promising talent on the Florida State roster, but it's hardly a guarantee that much will change. While last week, we looked at five rising stars for FSU, these six players have a much steeper hill to climb after seeing their stars dim during 2012.

Mario Pender (RFr./RB)

Background: Highly regarded on the recruiting trail, Pender's freshman season at Florida State never got started. A groin injury over the summer lingered into fall camp, and it was quickly determined he'd need season-ending surgery to repair it. He never ran a rep during practice but is expected to be ready to go this spring.

Possible 2013 status: On the one hand, Pender can still step in to a relatively uncertain running back situation and find a niche. James Wilder Jr.'s continued legal problems are a cause for concern, and Devonta Freeman was inconsistent down the stretch after Chris Thompson's injury. On the other hand, Florida State could be adding more talent with this year's recruiting class, and thanks to the injury, Pender won't be dramatically ahead of them in terms of preparation.

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