Warchant Top 40: Veteran FSU defensive lineman checks in at No. 5
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. 5. The final four 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 |
No. 5 — FSU senior DL Fabien Lovett
It’s hard to know just how dominant Fabien Lovett would have been if he had been healthy in 2022. And how the injury that occurred in the second game of the season played a factor in his return to Tallahassee for another season.
The Mississippi State transfer, who has been a stalwart on the Florida State defensive line for years now, played just 18 snaps in the opener against Duquesne. He then played 43 snaps the following week against LSU and graded out as the third-best defensive player on the team, according to Pro Football Focus.
Lovett finished that game with just two tackles and two quarterback pressures, but his presence limited LSU’s running backs from doing much of anything at all against the Seminoles’ defense. The Tigers’ other ballcarriers, aside from quarterback Jayden Daniels, combined for 39 yards on 13 carries.
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Unfortunately, it was that 43rd play, on LSU’s final drive, that derailed most of Lovett’s season.
He was out for practically two months after the injury, and after coming back for the final few weeks of the regular season, he ended up sitting out the bowl game as well. Even when he played, Lovett was never able to get back to the dominant force he proved to be against LSU in the Superdome.
Well, now, after essentially a full year of rehabbing, Lovett could be primed to have a monster year in 2023. Which is saying something because he has been pretty good for a while now.
The 6-foot-4, 328-pound Vicksburg, Miss., native has started 30 games in his college career and has proven — at times — to be one of the best interior linemen in the ACC. Now, not only is he a year older, but he’s also going to have the likes of Joshua Farmer, Braden Fiske, Darrell Jackson and Dennis Briggs splitting time in the interior with him.
So, theoretically, he should be fresher at the end of games and at the end of the season.
And when Lovett is fresh and healthy, there’s no telling how disruptive he can be in his final year of college football.
Talk about this story with other die-hard FSU football fans on the Tribal Council.
