Warchant Top 40 will have new feel with wide-open battle for No. 1 spot

The voting is complete, and the Warchant Top 40 — our annual list of the 40 most impactful players for the Florida State football team — will begin publishing this week.

We can honestly say this year’s Top 40 is unlike any in the history of this endeavor, which goes back more than a decade.

Typically, there is a pretty clear-cut choice for the No. 1 pick. Jordan Travis, for example, was the obvious No. 1 player in the Warchant Top 40 for both 2022 and 2023. Jameis Winston was the clear-cut choice for everyone in 2014. Even defensive back Lamarcus Joyner was a unanimous No. 1 pick going into the 2013 season.

And while every year isn’t unanimous at the top, there has never been quite the disparity in voting as there is in 2024.

Three different Florida State players received No. 1 votes in this year’s selection process. That’s something that has never happened before.

While that might not be a great thing on the surface — FSU fans might feel better about this team if there was an undisputed can’t-miss leader, like there has been the past two seasons — there is a great deal about the 2024 Top 40 that is extremely encouraging.

For starters, we should begin with the bottom of the list and the players who didn’t quite make the cut in voting by Warchant staff members Gene Williams, Ira Schoffel, Corey Clark, Jeff Cameron, Tom Lang, Aslan Hajivandi and Matt LaSerre.

There are nine players who showed up on various ballots but didn’t receive enough votes to be in the Top 40, and all nine of them could be on the two-deep for the Seminoles this fall. That speaks to how much talent and potential there is on this 2024 Florida State team.

The most notable of those names is offensive tackle Robert Scott, who only didn’t make the cut because of concerns about his health. Scott, a former All-ACC second-teamer, played sparingly during the 2023 season due to injury and then was held out of spring practice. If he is completely healthy this fall, he could be among the top 10 or top 15 most important players on the team, but only three of our panelists included him on their top 40 ballots; four others left him off completely.

Another very notable omission is defensive end Byron Turner Jr., who was the Seminoles’ third-most productive defensive end last season. Turner is definitely expected to be in the rotation at defensive end again this fall, and he showed up on five of seven ballots. But Turner appeared to get shuffled down the list by the excitement surrounding more than a dozen new transfers and some impact freshmen. Turner was chosen as high as No. 32 by Aslan and No. 33 by Jeff and Ira, but being left off of two ballots completely hurt his chances.

Tight end Jackson West was left out despite turning in a very impressive spring. Backup quarterback Brock Glenn also didn’t make the cut, and neither did five-star freshman Luke Kromenoek. So, projected starter DJ Uiagalelei was the only quarterback to make the Top 40.

Three more players who likely will be competing for starting jobs entering preseason camp also failed to crack the Top 40 — linebacker Omar Graham Jr., wide receiver Darion Williamson and safety Ashlynd Barker.

If not for nagging injuries, Graham and Williamson could have been among the top performers at their positions in 2023. But both had relatively quiet springs and were left off several ballots despite votes of confidence from some staff members (Gene had Graham at No. 29, and Corey had Williamson at No. 33.) And Barker will be among a deep group of safeties competing for the starting job opposite Shyheim Brown after seeing playing time in his first year in the system last fall.

Other players receiving votes but not making the Top 40 included linebacker Shawn Murphy and defensive end Aaron Hester.

The first installment of the 2024 Warchant Top 40 will be revealed on Tuesday.

(Note: The Warchant Top 40 is not necessarily a list of the Seminoles’ 40 most talented players, but the players we believe will have the opportunity and capability to make the biggest impact this season.)

Talk about this story with other die-hard Florida State football fans on the Tribal Council.