Florida State Football: 'Noles Pick Up Another 4-Star Prospect in Justin Shanks

The Florida State Seminoles picked up their 15th commitment and 10th prospect rated 4-stars or higher for their 2012 recruiting class on Wednesday afternoon when defensive tackle Justin Shanks (Prattville, AL) verbally pledged to play his college football in Tallahassee.

"I committed to Florida State. I think during the FSU camp was really when it hit me that this is the place I wanted to be at," Shanks told Michael Langston of Warchant.com. "I love the staff, players, and the system they run so it was a great fit." 

Shanks, who is the No. 9 defensive tackle and No. 111 overall prospect according to Rivals.com, was going to hold off on making his decision until his Prattville High School and future Seminole teammate Austin Golson convinced him to commit.

"I was planning on waiting a while for my decision, but I just couldn't wait any longer," Shanks said. "So now I can say that I have (committed) and I couldn't be more excited or relieved that my recruitment is over."

The 6'3", 306-pound run stopper believes he can make an immediate impact on one of the best defensive lines in the country.

"FSU has some great defensive ends—last year they led the nation in sacks. However, they struggled stopping the run because of depth or strong play with their defensive tackles. That's where I think I can immediately help them out—I can be a big time run stopper on that defense," Shanks said. "That's my biggest strength—being able to control the line of scrimmage."

The Seminoles already had verbals from the nation's top two defensive ends in Mario Edwards (Denton, TX) and Dante Fowler Jr. (St. Petersburg, FL) along with the No. 16 defensive tackle and No. 9-rated defensive end before Shanks' commitment.

Florida State will definitely have a top-two or -three class come National Signing Day if they are able to keep all of their current commitments, which should not be a problem.

I cannot even begin to fathom how good the Seminoles defensive line will be for the next four-plus years considering they are already the best at wreaking havoc on opposing quarterbacks.

Zach Dirlam is a Big Ten Columnist for the new website Sports at Work. Check out his blog, Dirlam’s Dirty Dugout Sports Blog, which features this story along with other articles and video reports on the major sports. You can also follow his blog on Twitter, @DirtyDugoutBlog, which will provide you with the latest updates about what will be posted on the blog!