Florida State Football Recruiting: Noles Gain Huge Commitment from Linebacker

Yesterday, 4-star recruit E.J. Levenberry pledged to Florida State and is bringing his talents to Tallahassee.

Levenberry is ranked as the 12th best inside linebacker in the nation by 247Sports, though some have pegged him as an outside linebacker (Rivals.com has him as the third best.) Either way, he still has innate skill that FSU could use.

It was down to Michigan and Florida State for him, after getting offers from the likes of Auburn, USC, Georgia and every other major football school. Clearly, there was a lot of interest in him.

The big positive for Levenberry is power. Scouts have always raved about his upper and lower body strength, which is coupled with a decent frame (6'3", 227 pounds) that makes him very athletic. 

He uses this athleticism to his advantage in blitzing. This is the part of his game which shines the most. His excellent vision helps him blast through holes in the offensive line and get to the running back or quarterback quickly.

When he is ready to hit, he brings the heat. Levenberry hits hard and is aggressive towards the ball. The potential of being a crowd-pleaser is there.

Though, like every other player, he has weaknesses. Two main knocks on him would be technique and average instincts.

Because he doesn't have perfect technique, he is sometimes stifled when blitzing because guys are able to stop his initial push. Once he is stopped, his hand placement is poor, allowing him to be manhandled at the line. 

Perhaps the biggest problem I see though is the instincts. He has decent ones, but that's just it—decent. Levenberry needs to really learn where a play is going if he wants to be an effective player. Without them, his natural talents are a waste.

Right now, I see him sitting out his first year with a redshirt to clean up his technique and bulk up to around 245. It will certainly help him in the refining of his game for the college level.

FSU received a great talent here, but they need to know how to use him. In a few years, he could be a very productive and exciting piece of this defense.