Breaking: Four-star lineman Jaylen Early commits to Florida State
Four-star interior offensive lineman Jaylen Early has committed to Florida State, according to On3’s Hayes Fawcett. Early is a 6-foot-4, 320-pound senior from Duncanville, Texas. He chose the Seminoles over Texas A&M, Texas Tech and others.
The newest Seminole commit could pair with high school teammate Jerrale Powers, who committed as a tight end last month.
Early is Florida State’s 18th commitment in the class of 2022 and its highest-ranked committed offensive lineman. He joins fellow four-star linemen Antavious Woody, Qae’Shon Sapp and Aliou Bah. The Seminoles now have commitments from six offensive linemen in 2022 after signing just two in 2021. Florida State currently has two seniors on its offensive line entering 2021.
Florida State’s return
The Seminoles have the No. 7 recruiting class in the 2022 cycle and the second-best class in the ACC after Early’s commitment, placing them behind only Clemson in the conference rankings. Florida State head coach Mike Norvell has added a pair of five-star prospects and six four-star recruits to kickstart next year’s class.
Norvell already has a commitment from Travis Hunter, the top cornerback in the 2022 class, along with five-star athlete Sam McCall. The rest of the class shows where the staff feels improvements should come from.
And that’s in the trenches, where Florida State has 10 commitments along the offensive or defensive line so far. The Seminoles have also added three players at linebacker and tight end.
After a disappointing 3-6 season in 2020, Norvell has put together a top 25 class in 2021 with 12 incoming transfers. Altogether, he’s shown early in his Florida State tenure he can recruit at a high level.
Florida State hasn’t finished with a winning record since 2017, when coach Jimbo Fisher left the team to take the Texas A&M job following a 6-6 season.
That led to Norvell’s hire at Florida State to revitalize the program following four years at Memphis. He led the Tigers to their first ever New Year’s Day bowl against Penn State in the Cotton Bowl.
Image courtesy of Malcolm Hope/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images