Daniel Lyons has very quickly made up for lost time.
After missing Florida State’s spring practices due to injury and then working his way back to the field, Lyons reminded why he should not be a forgotten man on the defensive front in the season opener against Alabama. The redshirt junior played 45 snaps and recorded two tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. Pro Football Focus credited him with five quarterback hurries.
Lyons said he remained engaged during the spring, taking part in defensive line meetings and encouraging teammates during practice. What’s impressive is how many snaps Lyons was able to play as he rebuilt his conditioning mid-camp to be ready to play.
“I would say after the first week of fall camp, I started feeling like myself again,” Lyons said. “When I first came back, I was a little nervous about my leg injury.”
As Lyons began to prepare for the season, he said coach Mike Norvell sparked a fire.
“I had to get back into the groove,” Lyons said. “When I came off my injury, my first week of practice in fall camp, it wasn’t me. He came to me and he was telling me, ‘C’mon, you’re better than that. You’ve been here.’ I just had to go, push harder. I prepared more. I ran after practice. All of us ran after practice. I put my thoughts aside and just went.”
FSU’s defensive linemen seemingly kept the pressure on Alabama. They brought the heat in waves, with Darrell Jackson and James Williams leading the way with five hurries. Mandrell Desir (three hurries), Jayson Jenkins (two hurries) and Stefon Thompson (two hurries) also brought pressure, often benefitting from Darrell Jackson absorbing double teams (and playing a stunning 55 snaps).
Lyons wasn’t exactly a forgotten man going into the opener. His injury just raised a question of how disruptive he could be this early in the year. But in his second career start, he had a 15-yard sack that led to a fumble (an Alabama offensive lineman scooped it up).
“We've kind of been on Daniel this offseason,” Norvell said. “He was coming off injury. I was excited because the last two weeks you started to see, ‘Hey, this is the guy that I know he can be.’ I thought he played a really good game. He made some impactful plays. Not perfect. There's going to be some areas for growth. But he was impactful in the game, played with great motor. Excited for the step that he can take.”
That next step could be this fall, too. Lyons has experience with 31 career games — he had 25 tackles and three sacks in 2024 — but he now has a chance to be more of a regular in FSU’s line rotation. He played on 335 snaps last fall, hitting 35 in a few games, but the coaches clearly have confidence in Lyons by giving him 45 against Alabama.
Lyons is also up eight pounds from last year to 302 and is a versatile player who can line up anywhere along FSU’s front.
“He’s a guy who was just quietly getting better,” defensive coordinator Tony White said. “The sky is the limit for Daniel Lyons. He’s twitchy. He’s very intelligent, football smart. Now is his time to shine. As he catches up with his conditioning with his added weight, you’re going to start to see his performance take off.”
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