Does OSU, FSU, UGA or Virginia Tech Have Best Chance to Land 5-Star Josh Sweat?
One of the nation’s top pass-rushing prospects, 5-star defensive end Josh Sweat, is slated to make his commitment on Wednesday.
Florida State, Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon and Virginia Tech are Sweat’s five finalists, but less than 24 hours away from his announcement, which team is trending in the race to land the 6’5”, 240-pounder?
Sweat has been a tough recruit to read, but the latest buzz appears to surround Florida State and Virginia Tech, according to Josh Newberg of Noles247.
In particular, it’s the Seminoles who are trending down the stretch with the No. 6 overall prospect in the 2015 class:
According to Ryan Bartow of 247Sports (subscription required), Jimbo Fisher and defensive ends coach Sal Sunseri will see him at his high school on Tuesday—which means they get the last crack at Sweat before his announcement.
Following his official visit last month to Tallahassee, Sweat told Bartow (subscription required) that he’s very comfortable with Sunseri and the ‘Noles' plans for him should he choose FSU.
“We’re pretty close,” Sweat said of Sunseri. “I like him a lot. We went over the schemes they run. How I would play some outside linebacker and mostly have my hand in the dirt as a pass rusher. I see that they are missing that now. I don’t see them having that (pass rusher) right now.”
Even though FSU’s roster is loaded with former prep All-Americans, the ‘Noles have struggled to generate a pass rush.
Per CFBstats.com, junior defensive tackle Eddie Goldman and junior defensive end Mario Edwards Jr.—who have combined to notch seven sacks—are the only linemen who have more than one sack this season.
Both of those players are considered as potential early entries in the 2015 NFL draft, which magnifies the importance of landing an impact pass-rusher such as Sweat—who notched 22 sacks and recorded 31 tackles for loss as a junior.
Additionally, Fisher and the Seminoles have had success in recent years pulling top talent out of the state of Virginia.
FSU already has a pledge from 4-star defensive tackle and Virginia native Darvin Taylor in the current cycle, and they’ve beaten out the Hokies for players such as defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi and linebacker E.J. Levenberry in recent classes.
Conversely, to land the state’s top prospect, Frank Beamer will have to reverse a trend of top in-state talent heading away from Blacksburg in recent years.
Since the 2011 cycle, the Hokies have landed just one player—safety Holland Fisher in the 2013 class—who was ranked as one of the state of Virginia’s five best prospects.
As noted by Evan Watkins of VTScoop (subscription required), the Hokies made sure to emphasize their need at defensive end when Sweat visited Blacksburg two weeks ago.
If the Hokies can fend off powers such as FSU and Georgia for Sweat, it may produce the biggest win—on or off the field—for the program this season.
Sanjay Kirpalani is a National Recruiting Analyst for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.
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