FSU football’s NFL draft shutout isn’t as bad as it seems for ’Noles

The first two days of the NFL draft have been a drought for Florida State.

No Seminoles were chosen through the first three rounds for only the fourth time in the last four decades; the others were 2012, 1987 and 1986.

Saturday’s final day should be relatively quiet, too. All-ACC safety Jammie Robinson is the only apparent lock to get drafted. Unless someone else (like Clearwater Central Catholic product Dillan Gibbons) squeaks in, FSU will end up with its weakest draft class since 1987.

Normally, being invisible on draft weekend is a bad sign. But with this team in this year, it’s not as bad as it sounds.

Ideally, FSU would have a handful of high-end NFL prospects in this class, and the next, and the next. That’s the way it works at Georgia, Alabama and Ohio State, who stack elite recruiting classes on top of each other, then turn those blue-chip prospects into draft picks.

The Seminoles aren’t there. Maybe last year’s breakthrough season will help FSU break into that elite recruiting group, or coach Mike Norvell will be able to evaluate and develop talent well enough to make up for it. His track record with finding overlooked playmakers at Memphis and transfer portal gems at FSU is encouraging.

For now, a weekend like this will do because it means FSU is running it back.

Defensive end Jared Verse would have been drafted by now. Way-too-early mock drafts had him as a likely first-round pick after an all-ACC season. But he (somewhat surprisingly) chose to stay at FSU for another season.

Defensive lineman Fabien Lovett might have been off the board, too; he was intriguing enough as a prospect to receive (and accept) an invitation to the Senior Bowl before reversing course.

We don’t know whether receiver Johnny Wilson’s 200-yard bowl game against Oklahoma would have made him a Day 2 pick, or how quarterback Jordan Travis would have fared at the combine, or where Trey Benson would have fit in a deep running back class. That’s because they all put the NFL on hold for another season in Tallahassee.

There have been some defections, including one Friday when Tampa native Mycah Pittman entered the transfer portal. But the losses could have been much deeper.

“I’m happy I came back,” Verse said after FSU’s spring showcase. “So happy.”

Seminoles fans should be, too. Even if it’s making for a quiet draft weekend.

Gators’ Gervon Dexter, O’Cyrus Torrence taken

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Two Florida linemen were drafted in Friday’s second round. Defensive lineman Gervon Dexter went to the Bears with the No. 53 overall pick. Chicago legend (and former Miami Hurricanes standout) Devin Hester was so excited while announcing the selection that he did the Gator chomp.

Dexter, a Lake Wales native, was a two-year starter at Florida and finished his career with 125 tackles (9 ½ for a loss).

Six picks later, the Bills took his former teammate, O’Cyrus Torrence. Seen by some as a potential first-round pick, Torrence was an unheralded recruit who signed with Billy Napier at Louisiana, then followed him to the Gators. He didn’t allow a sack in his four collegiate seasons and was a first-team All-America guard last fall.

Former Miami defensive back Tyrique Stevenson will join Dexter in Chicago after the Bears took him in the second round (No. 56 overall).

The Eagles selected Illinois safety Sydney Brown in the third round (No. 66 overall); the Canada native spent two seasons at Bradenton’s St. Stephen’s Episcopal School.

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