FSU Seminoles

Each season brings with it new expectations, and a handful of Seminoles will bear the brunt of the pressure to perform in 2013. We're counting down the top 10 FSU players being counted on the most to help the Seminoles live up to expectations.

No. 2: DE Mario Edwards Jr.

2012 performance: The past year was a roller coaster for Edwards. He arrived at Florida State as the most touted recruit in the country, a 300-pound behemoth expecting to make an instant impact at defensive end. Of course, FSU already had its share of talent at the position -- including three 2013 NFL draft picks -- and when the season began, Edwards was slated to redshirt. That didn't last long, though. Brandon Jenkins' injury opened up some playing time, and slowly but surely, Edwards dropped some weight and began to make an impact. When Cornellius Carradine's season ended with an ACL injury, Edwards emerged as the starter in the Seminoles' last two games, finishing the year with 17 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

Pressure point: The mere fact that Edwards was poised to redshirt to open 2012 underscores just how much depth FSU had at the position. This year, however, it's a much different story. Jenkins, Carradine and Bjoern Werner are all gone, and Edwards is the cornerstone of the Seminoles' pass rush. He certainly has the talent to make an instant impact, but last year he showed signs of a lack of maturity and an excess of weight. That's not necessarily an ideal scenario for a player whom Florida State will rely upon to key the pass rush.

If he succeeds: The Seminoles are in good position to move forward even without a bevy of veteran defensive linemen, with Edwards leading the charge. While Werner, Jenkins and Carradine all were exceptional players with bright NFL futures, Edwards' ceiling might be higher than any of them. Add the new defensive scheme from coordinator Jeremy Pruitt and there's a distinct possibility that Edwards doesn't just fill a void in 2013, but blossoms into one of the most fearsome defenders in the country.

If he fails: The truth is, there isn't much room for failure for Edwards in 2013. Florida State needs him to take the next step and become a productive pass rusher as much as it needs any player to perform. There simply isn't any significant established depth at defensive end, and several others -- Giorgio Newberry, Chris Casher -- remain works in progress. Even with Pruitt looking for ways to bring pressure from elsewhere, the line remains an essential keystone to FSU's defensive success, and if Edwards can't build on his late surge in 2012, there may not be a realistic Plan B.

Projection: Edwards showed enough in his late-season stint as starter last year that there's ample room for enthusiasm. Yes, he still needs to drop a few pounds, and yes, he still has a lot to prove. But Edwards' natural ability is so immense that he should find some measure of success regardless of how much he develops from here. That, of course, doesn't mean Jimbo Fisher will be satisfied with a solid performance. Edwards could be special, and while he might not reach elite status in 2013, the FSU coaches will be pushing him hard to get there.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- When the 2012 season ended, Mario Edwards Jr. was exactly where he'd expected to be, starting in the Orange Bowl with an eye toward the future, where he'd be anchoring Florida State's defensive line.

The path to get there though, never went quite according to plan.

"It was a bit of a roller coaster," Edwards said.

His first season at FSU hardly followed the script Edwards had envisioned when he left high school as the nation's No. 1 recruit, but it was a season filled with lessons he needed to learn before he could blossom into a star at the college level.

Edwards arrived in Tallahassee with plenty of hype and an impressive pedigree, but he hardly resembled the future star who'd received so much advanced billing. In high school, he earned raves for his rare combination of speed and size, but when fall camp arrived last season, he checked in at a massive 315 pounds and showed no signs of that quick first step. He'd assumed all the recruiting hype would be enough to secure a job, but with three future NFL draft picks ahead of him on the depth chart, FSU's coaching staff had little room for an overweight freshman.

A week before Florida State's 2012 opener, Jimbo Fisher informed Edwards that he'd be redshirting. It was a blow to Edwards’ ego, who responded by skipping his first game altogether.

"It hit me, but then I couldn't blame anyone but myself," Edwards said. "I put myself behind the 8-ball coming in overweight, and I wasn't able to produce like they needed me to do because I was 315."

Edwards didn't have long to sulk. An injury to starting defensive end Brandon Jenkins put the freshman back in the mix.

"Jimbo called me in his office and said, 'Alright, bub, this is what you've been asking for -- now you've got it,'" Edwards said. "I knew then I had to get serious about what I was doing."

The opportunity offered some inspiration.

Edwards worked with strength coach Vic Viloria to improve his eating habits and adjust his exercise routine. His playing time was still minimal, but slowly he was beginning to resemble the player so many scouts had raved about during his high school days.

Throughout the season, Edwards shed more than 30 pounds, and when Cornellius Carradine went down with an ACL injury in the regular-season finale, he quickly made his case for the starting job.

"To end up starting the two biggest games -- the ACC [championship] and the Orange Bowl -- it was definitely really good," Edwards said.

Edwards held his own in those final two games, racking up 10 tackles as FSU's defensive front pounded Georgia Tech and Northern Illinois. It was a strong culmination of a frustrating year, but it was just the start of a much bigger role to come.

Jenkins and Carradine are both in NFL camps now, as is first round pick Bjoern Werner. What remains at defensive end for FSU is a crop of talented by inexperienced players with Edwards at the forefront.

"It's really amazing the talent that's here," new ends coach Sal Sunseri said. "They understand that there are three guys in the National Football League, and now it's their turn. So now they've got to come out and live up to that ability."

For Edwards, that means building on the lessons of 2012.

"He's finding out that with what I'm asking him to do, it's taxing and we've got to get him into better shape," Sunseri said. "I know it and everybody knows it and he knows it. He's going to fight through it and he's going to be good. He's got a lot of talent."

All that talent also means that the task of rebuilding FSU’s defensive line begins with Edwards.

Sitting the bench was never his plan as a freshman, but the experience offered him a chance to learn from the best.

"At the time I wasn't thinking about that, but then I started thinking, these are the top people in the nation," Edwards said. "I was top in the nation in high school but these are the top in college. I just took it as, learn from them and use it for next year."

It helps, too, that new coordinator Jeremy Pruitt has implemented a scheme that fits Edwards' style perfectly.

"There's no more reading," Edwards said. "It's more just see it and go. More attack. I feel a little more comfortable."

That doesn't mean it's been easy. Edwards was one of Sunseri's favorite targets for criticism throughout the spring -- urging his star pupil to stop relying on his natural gifts and focus on becoming a more refined player.

It wasn't always easy to hear, but Edwards understood the message.

"Sal is definitely a firecracker," he said. "At any given moment, he can go off on you. But if he's on you and yelling at you, it's because he cares about you and he's trying to coach you for the player that you could be not the player that you are."

And Florida State will need Edwards to be something more than he was as a freshman when it opens the 2013 season. Werner and Carradine recorded 24 sacks between them in 2012 -- more than any duo in the nation -- while anchoring FSU's third-ranked run defense. Replacing the production is a tall order, even for a once-prized recruit.

But if last season taught Edwards anything, it's that success at this level isn't supposed to come easily, but the biggest tests are worth the work.

"I don't like to think of it as pressure," Edwards said. "I like to think of it as a challenge, and I like challenges. It's big shoes to fill, but I think I'll be able to do it."

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.

First up: Dan Hicks (Sr./DE)

Career arc: A two-star recruit out of high school, Hicks saw limited action at defensive end in 2010 and 2011, registering 34 tackles and two sacks. After the 2011 season, he was shifted to tight end, but a knee injury during fall camp ended his season. He switched back to defense this spring.

Why he's overlooked: Hicks' history doesn't exactly inspire much enthusiasm, and after a lost season in 2012 he was largely forgotten. While the move back to defensive end offered an opportunity for playing time at his original position, he's also competing against more prized prospects like Mario Edwards Jr., Giorgio Newberry and Chris Casher.

Why he'll produce: It might have been a full year since Hicks last competed at defensive end, but he looked the part of an experienced veteran during spring practice. Fisher raved after the spring game that no one on the defensive line had played so consistently well as Hicks, and where he once appeared to add depth at a position in transition, he's now a serious contender to win a starting job.

Projection: Hicks' star might never eclipse that of Newberry or Casher, but Fisher and new defensive ends coach Sal Sunseri don't care much about pedigree. When it comes to production, Hicks has impressed, and whether he ends up the starter, he'll get regular reps and should provide valuable experience at a position without much of it elsewhere.

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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