Braden Fiske: ‘Going to Florida State was the greatest decision I ever made’

As Mike Norvell worked to improve the Florida State roster through the transfer portal, one of the biggest additions came on the defensive line. Braden Fiske joined the Seminoles from Western Michigan, and he made an immediate impact upon his arrival.

Fiske turned in an All-American season for Florida State in 2023, totaling 43 tackles to go with 9.0 tackles for loss and 6.0 sacks across his 13 appearances. Those numbers earned him All-American honors from the AP, joining Jared Verse on the team.

Fiske put up big numbers at Western Michigan, too, as he looked to achieve his goal of playing in the NFL. But by attending Florida State, he got to play on a bigger stage and help the Seminoles to an ACC title – and he wouldn’t have it any other way, he said at the Senior Bowl.

“I say this all the time. Going to Florida State was the greatest decision I ever made,” Fiske told Andy Staples on Andy Staples On3. “It changed my life. Absolutely. And I think going into it, I wanted to make an impact right away. I’m going into my last year, I gotta have success. But I also wanted to be able to give back the best way I can and just show people, this is how I do it with the pro mentality that I was gonna bring in and the versatility and the way I play the game was super important.”

Fiske didn’t generate much interest from the power conferences as a high school recruit. He was a three-star prospect and the No. 2,047 overall prospect from the 2018 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. Once he entered the portal, though, teams started lining up. Fiske was the No. 33-ranked transfer in the 2023 On3 Transfer Portal Rankings, and he took visits to Notre Dame and USC before committing to Florida State.

Suffice to say, it worked out well. Now, he’s looking to improve his NFL Draft stock, and that started at the Senior Bowl Feb. 3. He was the defensive lineman player of the week for the American team after practices wrapped up. Even before the game, he was opening eyes from those in draft circles.

That includes Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy. Back in December, Nagy shared a thorough evaluation of what Braden Fiske would bring to an NFL team.

“Going back over the course of the season, he’s truly one of those guys that creates for people around him,” Nagy said of Fiske. “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.'”