Florida State coaches have consistently praised a group of freshman for how they have practiced this spring. Devin Carter and Jasen Lopez have come up often on offense.
On defense? It’s linebacker Karon Maycock.
“He made two plays that you're just like, 'That's why you're here.' Athletic, fast and explosive,” FSU defensive coordinator Tony White said.
The 6-foot-1, 218-pound Maycock had 149 tackles, 36 tackles for loss and nine sacks at Miami Central. He was among the class of 2026 signees that coach Mike Norvell remarked was a four-year relationship and a recruiting win when discussing the class in December.
FSU has rebuilt its linebacker room this offseason, adding transfers Chris Jones (Southern Miss) and Mikai Gbayor (North Carolina, Nebraska) but also landing talented freshmen in Maycock, Izayia Williams, Daylen Green and Noah LaVallee. FSU also returns veterans in Omar Graham Jr., Blake Nichelson and AJ Cottrill, plus Caleb LaVallee (a UNC transfer who missed 2025 due to injury).
From White to Norvell, there’s confidence in the depth that’s building in the group as it is led by first-year linebackers coach Ernie Sims.
White noted he’s enjoyed seeing Maycock’s maturation in the spring.
“Like with all those young guys, they're here because they're athletically gifted,” White said. “But then when you see the knowledge behind it, when you see now they're starting to play hard, you see the all the time spent in the VR (virtual reality) room and Ernie Sims' office and all those things.
“And when it comes to fruition on the grass, that's awesome to see. He's one that's coming up. His intensity, his focus is just passion to play, like you see him starting to show up a lot, which is awesome for that room.”
Lester turning a corner
FSU has gone through large chunks of the spring without Ja’Bril Rawls and Quindarrius Jones, the first a definite starting cornerback and the second a potential one in the fall. That has given coaches the chance to track the development of younger cornerbacks.
Charles Lester III is far from a “young” guy considering he is beginning his third year at FSU. White has noted Lester’s coverage skills and playmaking ability. Lester had two of the four interceptions in FSU’s third scrimmage, White said.
“He had two interceptions this last one (scrimmage),” White said, noting one of them was called back due to a penalty. “He's starting to trust himself and believe because he has the ability to do it.”
Edge rush getting there (often)
White discussed FSU’s “twitchy” defensive linemen and how they have been tough 1-on-1 matchups for the Seminoles’ line this spring. He reflected on some of the positives with junior college defensive end Jalen Anderson as well as Texas A&M transfer Rylan Kennedy.
“With Jalen, he's slowly coming along. He's slowly doing those things right. And it's showing up,” White said. “… In the scrimmage, there's some plays he couldn't be blocked. Just plain and simple. Him and Rylan. There's some plays that they give up just because they didn't execute at a high level.”
White also mentioned how impressed he was with Deamontae Diggs in 2025 prior to his season-ending injury. Diggs is showing up often as a disruptive end in FSU’s practices this spring.
“He's another guy that's hard to block when he wants to go, he is hard to block,” White said. “You see it on tape, where he goes and he does, he executes at a high level, and he does it with some intensity.”
White reflected that Diggs is at times “lax,” and it’s clear he’s pushing the ends to show energy with every practice play.
Scrimmage thoughts
White indicated he liked how some Seminoles performed in Saturday’s scrimmage but the body of work for the defense didn’t meet his approval.
“We didn't play with an edge and that was said to see,” White said. “Some practices leading up to it, that's one thing they brought was an edge.”
White did note the practices leading up to the scrimmage were quite good and that the Seminoles’ response on Monday was good. “That was great to see,” White said.
One of the freshmen who caught White’s eye was defensive back Jordan Crutchfield, who had three interceptions in the class 7A state title game in December prior to enrolling at FSU.
“Jordan Crutchfield, he showed up for the first time in some ways that he hadn't shown before,” White said. “His effort, playing hard. And then he had a great interception on a on a ball thrown. He went over there, and they took the ball out of the air. That was great to see.“
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