Jim Nagy gives in-depth evaluation of Braden Fiske as an NFL Draft prospect

When talking about Florida State defenders hoping to become NFL Draft picks, the name Jared Verse quickly comes to mind. After all, he put up huge numbers in his two seasons with the Seminoles before declaring for the draft.

But, according to Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy, another name is gaining some traction: defensive tackle Braden Fiske.

“I was actually talking with an NFL guy about him this morning and about that Florida State defense,” Nagy told Andy Staples on Andy Staples On3. “He was like, ‘Man, I think the best player on the whole defense is the Fiske kid.’ And I said, well, there is a guy named Jared Verse, right?”

Fiske arrived at Florida State this past season from Western Michigan, and he played a big role for the Seminoles. He had 43 tackles to go with 9.0 tackles for loss and 6.0 sacks across his 13 appearances and, along with Verse, earned All-American honors from the AP. In 2022 at WMU, he had 59 tackles, 12 TFLs and 6.0 sacks before making his way to FSU.

What stands out to Nagy, though, is the way Braden Fiske can wreck a game. To look at him, you might not think that’s what he can do. But his athleticism jumps off the page, and his breakout performance in the ACC Championship — nine tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks is quite the stat line — adds to the hype.

“You want to pigeonhole him as like this, you know, undersized, white, try-hard, plugger defensive tackle. And the guy is super disruptive,” Nagy said. “He can really run. I mean, that’s the thing. We’ve talked about maybe even playing him at some fullback here at the Senior Bowl. And what he is, like, it started to show up in that ACC championship game. … There was some paper production there.

“But going back over the course of the season, he’s truly one of those guys that creates for people around him. Like, he blows stuff up. He’s super disruptive with his get-off, and then, creates this chaos and then guys clean up around him. Again, usually you see a guy like him, you’re like, ‘Oh, he’s the clean-up guy.’ They’re like, ‘No, he’s actually the guy that they’re cleaning up after.’ So really a cool player. And I told him when we spoke, I’m like, man, bring that same intensity to practice. We need tone-setters during our game week to keep practices really spirited. He’s like, ‘I got you. I got you, Jim. I’ll make sure I do that.’ So we’re excited to get him here, for sure.”