As The Portal Turns: Evaluating DE transfer options for Florida State
Few schools, if any, have used the transfer portal better than Florida State, especially when it comes to the defensive end position.
Three years ago, the Seminoles landed Jermaine Johnson and helped him develop into the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and NFL first-round draft choice. Then two years ago, they got Jared Verse out of Albany, and he has earned first-team All-ACC both seasons and also received All-America honors.
Now, Florida State is in the market for defensive end help again. The Seminoles were always going to make a push at this position, but the efforts could intensify with questions about the future of sophomore star Patrick Payton. The Miami product had not officially entered the transfer portal as of late Wednesday afternoon, but he announced on Tuesday that he was planning to (before later deleting his social media post).
With that in mind, here are a few to watch as Florida State looks to restock that position.
RJ Oben – Duke
RJ Oben is the son of Roman Oben, who won a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The elder Oben also played for Louisville during his college years.
RJ Oben had five sacks, 17 total tackles and six quarterback hits this season at Duke. The former Blue Devil has also played in at least 12 games every season since 2021.
Oben confirmed to Warchant that he is taking an official visit to Florida State on the weekend of Dec. 15-17. As a high school prospect, he was not viewed as a national recruit. He was ranked as a three-star in the On3 Industry Rankings, but was a top-100 edge rusher and the 18th-best player in New Jersey.
Kyle Kennard – Georgia Tech
Kyle Kennard is another edge prospect Florida State has been pushing hard for early. Warchant learned on Wednesday that the Seminoles’ staff made an in-home visit, and Kennard confirmed to Warchant that he will take an official visit to FSU this weekend.
The former Yellow Jacket had a strong 2023 season. He totaled 54 tackles, 11 tackles for loss and six sacks. Four of the six sacks came against Wake Forest in September.
Of his 11 tackles for loss, 1.5 came against then-No. 1 Georgia. In addition to those stats, Kennard also had two forced fumbles, a pass deflection and an interception.
***SEE THE FULL LIST OF POSSIBLE FSU PORTAL TARGETS HERE***
Nate Clifton – Vanderbilt
This is another one where Warchant has learned that an in-home visit from Florida State is expected soon.
Clifton had 30 tackles this season, including 7.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. The former Commodore has been at Vanderbilt since he enrolled in 2019 and will be leaving as a graduate transfer.
Coming out of high school in Tennessee, Clifton was listed as a three-star prospect and a top-50 recruit in the state.
Samuel Okunlola – Pittsburgh
Samuel Okunlola was the first public offer Florida State gave to an edge rusher during the portal cycle.
Okunlola has received multiple offers since that time. The list includes Missouri, Colorado, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Washington and Southern California.
However, the main one to watch is not currently on his offer list — that would be the Miami Hurricanes. Samson Okunlola, Samuel’s brother, is a former five-star recruit and current offensive tackle for Miami.
The former Panther had five sacks on the season, 18 total tackles and six tackles for loss.
Omari Abor – Ohio State
Omari Abor does have some existing connections to this Florida State team. He was teammates with Seminole lineman Jaylen Early and tight end Jerrale Powers at Duncanville High School just outside of Dallas.
The former Buckeye was a four-star defensive lineman coming out of high school. He was also a top-100 player and top-20 prospect both at his position and in the state of Texas, according to On3.
In his two years at Ohio State, Abor only played in a total of nine games. In 2023, he only had two total tackles, but one of those was for a two-yard loss. That came against Western Kentucky early in the year.
