Melina Vastola-USA Today Sports
The Jimbo Fisher Football Camp has yielded another commitment for Florida State, this time a local product.
North Florida Christian (Tallahassee) running back Jonathan Vickers announced his intentions to don the garnet and gold after spending some more time on campus at Florida State this week. For the time being, he’s rated as a three star prospect by Rivals, but he broke his leg in the first game of his junior year, so evaluators haven’t had much of a chance to see him in game action.
He chose the Seminoles over offers from several high profile schools, including the Louisville Cardinals, thought to be the runners-up for Vickers.
The 6-foot-0 212 pounder could fill a role similar to that of former Seminole Lonnie Pryor. While he doesn’t have blazing top end speed, he does a great job of running downhill with a forward lean. He’s shown nice lateral movement and does a tremendous job of finishing off runs. He won’t likely be a big home run threat in college, but his slashing style will fit nicely into Florida State’s zone schemes
Like Pryor, he might not be a feature back that gets 25 carries a game, but thanks to his versatility, Vickers could be used as a change of pace or blocking back in Tallahassee. He has a thick frame that could add the 10-15 pounds that he would need to be a fullback in certain situations. He has also displayed soft hands as a pass catcher in high school.
Vickers is the first running back commitment for the class of 2014, but he won’t be the last. T.J. Harrell was also on campus this week, and there is speculation that he might pull the trigger soon as well. If it’s not Harrell, it could be Shai McKenzie or Derrell Scott, but regardless, the Seminoles will be adding at least one more running back for this class.
B.L. is an ACC Football writer for Rant Sports and can be followed on Twitter @coachlip.
