Four guys back. All on defense and all right before Florida State.
Mario Cristobal went on the Joe Rose show this morning and confirmed what we've been saying on the CanesInsight Daily Podcast for a week:
Xavier Lucas, Marquise Lightfoot, Ezekiel Marcelin Jr. and Damari Brown are all back. And the guys who were dinged up going into the bye are trending back up after some much-needed rest.
Starting with Lucas, we've been without both starting corners since Stanford.
And while OJ Frederique's injury was more long-term, talking to sources the plan was always getting Lucas back after the bye. Lucas has size, strength and speed at the position, plus he was one of the steadiest players we had in camp. He also had a great battle last year with Duce Robinson, FSU's big X receiver.
Damari Brown matters too. He's over 200 pounds and one of the strongest corners on the team. I don't think he was 100 percent to start the year, but we were so short at corner that he had to play hurt. Now he gets to play healthy.
Up front, Lightfoot comes back to a defense that proved itself without him against Clemson after his early injury.
The Chicago native has been stellar to start his junior season, a key part in this Miami defense which allows the lowest percentage of touchdown drives in the country.
Marcelin was right on the verge of a bigger role when he got hurt. He's flashed every time he's been on the field, and this linebacker room needs more young players pushing behind Chase Smith and Mohamed Toure (who both just had great games at Clemson).
These returns also free up Bryce Fitzgerald. Cristobal told Joe Rose that moving him back to safety is an option, but he can play anywhere, nickel included. Omar Thornton has done some nice things at nickel, along with some negative plays.
Do you want Fitzgerald covering in the nickel? Or do you want him at safety on third and long, using his range and hunting turnovers like he did last year? That's a good problem. We didn't have that choice two weeks ago.
Not everybody is coming back so soon.
Max Buchanan is one we'll be without. Cristobal hopes he rejoins us later in the year, and the playoff run is the more realistic window.
Ja'Boree Antoine is still banged up and won't play this week. My guess is he's closer to the Notre Dame timeframe, though that's hard to pin down.
Armondo Blount isn't injured, but he's in that banged-up group that just needed rest.
The silver lining of all of this? We found out what the depth looks like.
Ryan Mack stepped up at corner and is now someone you can trust off the bench. Dylan Day played a great game at safety. Jarquez Carter, Herbert Scroggins III and Booker Pickett Jr. all did real work on the defensive line, with Pickett filling Lightfoot's role as the extra rusher. They did it on the road, at Clemson and at Wake. Our staff's evaluation of its own depth turned out to be right.
None of this means FSU is a walkover.
Cristobal pumped them up, as he should. He pointed to ten sacks against Virginia and a red zone offense he calls elite. We just watched two top-10 teams get upset, and nobody wants to be next, especially in a rivalry game.
We're breaking down FSU every single day this week on the CanesInSight podcast. Like and subscribe so you don't miss one.
Mario Cristobal went on the Joe Rose show this morning and confirmed what we've been saying on the CanesInsight Daily Podcast for a week:
Xavier Lucas, Marquise Lightfoot, Ezekiel Marcelin Jr. and Damari Brown are all back. And the guys who were dinged up going into the bye are trending back up after some much-needed rest.
Starting with Lucas, we've been without both starting corners since Stanford.
And while OJ Frederique's injury was more long-term, talking to sources the plan was always getting Lucas back after the bye. Lucas has size, strength and speed at the position, plus he was one of the steadiest players we had in camp. He also had a great battle last year with Duce Robinson, FSU's big X receiver.
Damari Brown matters too. He's over 200 pounds and one of the strongest corners on the team. I don't think he was 100 percent to start the year, but we were so short at corner that he had to play hurt. Now he gets to play healthy.
Up front, Lightfoot comes back to a defense that proved itself without him against Clemson after his early injury.
The Chicago native has been stellar to start his junior season, a key part in this Miami defense which allows the lowest percentage of touchdown drives in the country.
Marcelin was right on the verge of a bigger role when he got hurt. He's flashed every time he's been on the field, and this linebacker room needs more young players pushing behind Chase Smith and Mohamed Toure (who both just had great games at Clemson).
These returns also free up Bryce Fitzgerald. Cristobal told Joe Rose that moving him back to safety is an option, but he can play anywhere, nickel included. Omar Thornton has done some nice things at nickel, along with some negative plays.
Do you want Fitzgerald covering in the nickel? Or do you want him at safety on third and long, using his range and hunting turnovers like he did last year? That's a good problem. We didn't have that choice two weeks ago.
Not everybody is coming back so soon.
Max Buchanan is one we'll be without. Cristobal hopes he rejoins us later in the year, and the playoff run is the more realistic window.
Ja'Boree Antoine is still banged up and won't play this week. My guess is he's closer to the Notre Dame timeframe, though that's hard to pin down.
Armondo Blount isn't injured, but he's in that banged-up group that just needed rest.
The silver lining of all of this? We found out what the depth looks like.
Ryan Mack stepped up at corner and is now someone you can trust off the bench. Dylan Day played a great game at safety. Jarquez Carter, Herbert Scroggins III and Booker Pickett Jr. all did real work on the defensive line, with Pickett filling Lightfoot's role as the extra rusher. They did it on the road, at Clemson and at Wake. Our staff's evaluation of its own depth turned out to be right.
None of this means FSU is a walkover.
Cristobal pumped them up, as he should. He pointed to ten sacks against Virginia and a red zone offense he calls elite. We just watched two top-10 teams get upset, and nobody wants to be next, especially in a rivalry game.
We're breaking down FSU every single day this week on the CanesInSight podcast. Like and subscribe so you don't miss one.
