Warchant Top 40: Checking in at No. 3 is FSU's big-bodied, big-play WR Johnny Wilson
It’s time to look ahead to the 2023 Florida State football season with Warchant’s annual list of the Top 40 players on the Seminoles’ roster — the players we expect to make the biggest impact for FSU this fall. (Note: This is not necessarily the 40 most talented players, but the players we believe will have the opportunity and capability to make the biggest impact this season.)
The list was compiled through voting by Warchant’s Gene Williams, Ira Schoffel, Corey Clark, Jeff Cameron, Aslan Hajivandi and Tom Lang.
The Top 40 is being revealed in segments, continuing today with player No. 3. The final two players will be announced in the coming days.
Earlier Installments: Players No. 36-40 | Players No. 31-35 | Players No. 26-30 | Players 21-25 | Players 16-20 | Players 11-15 | Players 6-10 | Player No. 5 | Player No. 4 |
No. 3 – Junior WR Johnny Wilson
He came into the 2022 season as one of the biggest mysteries on the Florida State football team. He finished the year, after a record-setting performance in the bowl game, as one of the best pass-catching commodities in the United States.
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Johnny Wilson is unlike perhaps any other wideout in the country. He’s 6-foot-7, he can run, he has exceptional ball skills in one-on-one coverage, and he has a chance to be one of the more dominant forces in the country in 2023.
Wilson, who transferred from Arizona State after the 2021 season, came into last season with only 18 catches for 245 yards and one touchdown in his college career. He flew past those numbers in his first season with the Seminoles, finishing with 43 receptions for 897 yards and five touchdowns in helping lead Florida State to a 10-3 record.
He also showed a penchant for making big plays late in games. Wilson came down with enormous catches in the fourth quarter against both N.C. State and Florida, and his 57-yard reception late in the final period set up a game-winning field goal in the aforementioned bowl win over Oklahoma.
In that game, he finished with eight catches for 202 yards.
Wilson is the epitome of a big-play threat. The California native ranked fifth in the country in yards per catch at 20.86, and his total of 22 20-plus-yard receptions was third-best in the nation. And in 2023, not only does he figure to be a year better, a year more experienced, a year stronger and faster, but he will have Michigan State transfer Keon Coleman on the other side and South Carolina transfer Jaheim Bell at tight end.
Talk about this story with other die-hard FSU football fans on the Tribal Council.
