John Papuchis raves about continued growth of Patrick Payton

Spring practice is the time for making improvements and developing, and apparently Florida State defensive end Patrick Payton is doing just that this offseason. Payton made the most of his opportunities as a freshman last season, and according to special teams coordinator and defensive ends coach John Papuchis, he’s continuing to head in the right direction during the spring.

“I do see significant improvement in how he’s playing the game, but more specifically his physicality and how he’s playing the run,” Papuchis said. “I think we saw some flashes of what he could be as a pass rusher a year ago, I know one of his goals is to be an every down guy and be a complete player and that started to show up really with how he’s approached his offseason.”

Payton earned ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year honors last season, ranking second on the Seminoles and first amongst all ACC freshmen with 5.0 sacks on the year. He added 31 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss, one forced fumble, three pass breakups and, one quarterback hurry to his season totals, and could rack up even more stats this year based on the work he’s been putting in off the field.

“Getting stronger in the weight room, I think that gives you confidence to be more physical on the field and that’s showing up right now for him. But that is where we should be in terms of his development, he’s a guy that has a high ceiling and he’s going into his redshirt sophomore year, so my expectations is that we keep growing and that we’re just scratching the surface of what he could potentially be,” Papuchis said.

Payton’s size, speed, and production in the early stages of his career are evident, as he stands at 6-foot-5, 247 pounds and counting. But Papuchis pulled back the curtain on the mental side of his game, speaking to Payton’s mindset from the moment he arrived on campus to now.

“He is driven, he is focused. When he and I talked early in the offseason or coming off the end of the year from last year his big focus was to get stronger in the weight room, because he felt like it would allow him to be more physical and a better run player at the point of attack,” Papuchis said. “And he’s focused on that, you’ve seen the gains he’s made in the weight room. He’s made dramatic strides in terms of what his numbers are in the weight room and that’s starting to translate for him on the field.”

The breakout freshman campaign for Payton was exciting to watch, but apparently, it’s just the first chapter to what could amount to a memorable collegiate career for him moving forward.

“But I also think that if you ask him, he would tell you that he’s not even close to being where his ceiling could potentially be and that’s how I feel about it too. I think we’re just starting to see what he could potentially be, but we’ve got to stay focused and stay on track and I think that his best days are ahead of him,” Papuchis concluded.