When it comes to the offensive line, Florida State has taken two drastically different approaches to the two portal windows this offseason.
In the winter portal window, FSU went out and added the experience it badly needed. The Seminoles brought in four Power-Four transfers who had a combined 105 starts and 127 games played to give an offensive line room that both struggled badly in 2024 and lost a great deal of experience off that unit a tremendous surge of leadership and experience.
That quartet of Gunnar Hansen, Micah Pettus, Luke Petitbon and Adrian Medley enrolled in January, giving them plenty of time to build chemistry with teammates, learn the offense and prepare for expected starting roles come fall.
While Hansen was limited to start spring, it sounds like the hit rate on FSU's portal linemen was high. Petitbon and Medley were each praised quite frequently during spring camp. Petitbon, in particular, was praised for the leadership role he immediately took on in a young FSU OL room after he was a captain last season at Wake Forest.
"We brought in four guys from the portal and I'll just say this, we hit on all four," FSU offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn said Thursday at the Seminole Booster tour stop in Atlanta. "All four have a good chance of playing at the next level, adding to the guys that we have. It's going to start with them."
In the post-spring portal window, FSU added two more transfer offensive linemen. However, these additions were more of the depth/future potential variety.
On back-to-back days last week, the Seminoles landed commitments from Rutgers transfer Ja'Elyne Matthews and Vanderbilt transfer Josh Raymond on Wednesday and Thursday.
Matthews was a four-star recruit in the 2025 class, signing with Rutgers in December and leaving the program after just months there. At 6-foot-7, 337 pounds, he has the look of a potential future starting tackle. But as a true freshman, that isn't likely (or something that should happen) this season.
Raymond was a three-star prospect in the 2024 class out of Orlando, signing with Vandy over Stanford, USF and others. While he didn't play at all last season, he did bulk up considerably from 263 pounds as a recruit to 298 pounds as a redshirt freshman this spring.
He now follows Hansen, his former teammate in Nashville, to Tallahassee and will serve as a depth piece with a chance to break into the FSU two-deep.
"I think it's a big part of the balance. I thought we did a great job of being able to get experienced players to join the room (in the winter). Guys that can come in and make a great impact and provide leadership, and a great understanding of what it looks like," FSU coach Mike Norvell told the Osceola at the Seminole Booster stop in Atlanta. "Being able to also bring in some of these transfers that have multiple years, really excited about what their growth potential is, and what they bring from the competitive balance to this season that's ahead."
These additions at least marginally make up for the losses of Jaylen Early and TJ Ferguson in the post-spring portal window.
Neither of those two were expected to start, but they were each likely to be early options off the bench in the event of an injury.
While Matthews may be unlikely to break into the two-deep as a true freshman, Raymond is certainly a candidate.
Both should also help make up for that fact that all four of the transfer OL FSU brought into the program in January are redshirt seniors and will be at FSU just one year.
In the winter portal window, FSU went out and added the experience it badly needed. The Seminoles brought in four Power-Four transfers who had a combined 105 starts and 127 games played to give an offensive line room that both struggled badly in 2024 and lost a great deal of experience off that unit a tremendous surge of leadership and experience.
That quartet of Gunnar Hansen, Micah Pettus, Luke Petitbon and Adrian Medley enrolled in January, giving them plenty of time to build chemistry with teammates, learn the offense and prepare for expected starting roles come fall.
While Hansen was limited to start spring, it sounds like the hit rate on FSU's portal linemen was high. Petitbon and Medley were each praised quite frequently during spring camp. Petitbon, in particular, was praised for the leadership role he immediately took on in a young FSU OL room after he was a captain last season at Wake Forest.
"We brought in four guys from the portal and I'll just say this, we hit on all four," FSU offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn said Thursday at the Seminole Booster tour stop in Atlanta. "All four have a good chance of playing at the next level, adding to the guys that we have. It's going to start with them."
In the post-spring portal window, FSU added two more transfer offensive linemen. However, these additions were more of the depth/future potential variety.
On back-to-back days last week, the Seminoles landed commitments from Rutgers transfer Ja'Elyne Matthews and Vanderbilt transfer Josh Raymond on Wednesday and Thursday.
Matthews was a four-star recruit in the 2025 class, signing with Rutgers in December and leaving the program after just months there. At 6-foot-7, 337 pounds, he has the look of a potential future starting tackle. But as a true freshman, that isn't likely (or something that should happen) this season.
Raymond was a three-star prospect in the 2024 class out of Orlando, signing with Vandy over Stanford, USF and others. While he didn't play at all last season, he did bulk up considerably from 263 pounds as a recruit to 298 pounds as a redshirt freshman this spring.
He now follows Hansen, his former teammate in Nashville, to Tallahassee and will serve as a depth piece with a chance to break into the FSU two-deep.
"I think it's a big part of the balance. I thought we did a great job of being able to get experienced players to join the room (in the winter). Guys that can come in and make a great impact and provide leadership, and a great understanding of what it looks like," FSU coach Mike Norvell told the Osceola at the Seminole Booster stop in Atlanta. "Being able to also bring in some of these transfers that have multiple years, really excited about what their growth potential is, and what they bring from the competitive balance to this season that's ahead."
These additions at least marginally make up for the losses of Jaylen Early and TJ Ferguson in the post-spring portal window.
Neither of those two were expected to start, but they were each likely to be early options off the bench in the event of an injury.
While Matthews may be unlikely to break into the two-deep as a true freshman, Raymond is certainly a candidate.
Both should also help make up for that fact that all four of the transfer OL FSU brought into the program in January are redshirt seniors and will be at FSU just one year.
