Jared Verse raves over the growth he's seen from Byron Turner, FSU defensive line

The Florida State Seminoles defensive lineman, Jared Verse, opted to return to the program following the Seminoles’ 2022 turnaround season. With him returning for at least one more year, he is now one of the veteran faces of the defense. From Verse’s current position, things look a lot different during this year’s spring practices compared to last year’s.

After a successful 2022 season, Florida State is looking to build off of that momentum in the spring as they prepare for 2023. And that means that several younger players on the roster will have to step up for the Seminoles.

Following Florida State’s spring game, Verse highlighted sophomore Byron Turner for the growth he’s shown over the spring. And he also gave a glowing review of his defensive line counterpart.

“Oh, Byron specifically is just; that kid’s a freak of nature,” said Verse. “You can see it on kickoff when you see how fast he’s running downfield, he’s not deterred by anybody getting in his way, and you all saw it today; his sacks, the production he just had. That kid, he’s something special. And seeing him grow from last year; he was a good player last year, but now, it’s a whole different thing.

Turner is not the only young defensive lineman Verse believes has been stepping up during spring. As he continued, he also gave a nod to defensive end Lamont Green Jr., also known as Boots.

“And in the rest of the room, you see the younger guys, Like Boots, they’re real young guys, watching them come up. Even though he got hurt today, you saw some of the things he could do and some flashes of what he could be in the future. So, I’m excited.”

Florida State has a lot to live up to in 2023. After four straight losing seasons, the Seminoles made quite the leap with 10 wins, including a return to the bowl game where they won the Cheez-It Bowl.

With that return to success coming so rapidly, though, how can FSU expect to bottle that up and not become complacent? It’ll be by staying close to their roots, as Verse explained.

“I’m just never trying to forget where I came from. I’ve always had a chip on my shoulder, I’ve always been looked at as like, ‘He’s not going to make it, he’s not going to do nothing special, don’t expect too much of him’. And I’ve tried to keep that mindset,” Verse said. “People try to congratulate you, tell you how good you are, how proud they are of you. But I’m never gonna let that get to my head. To me, I’m still that kid that only had the one offer and had to grind to get here. In my mind, I’m still that…I’m still trying to keep that edge, keep that mentality going.”