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Yesterday’s Poll Results

Today’s Poll

🏹 Welcome to The Chief Brief! 🏹

Happy Sunday, Seminole!

The portal is getting wild — and the roster math is getting real, fast. Today’s edition is all about departures, pressure points, and where Florida State has to get this right over the next two weeks.

Here’s what’s inside:

🏈 Portal Departures Hit the Core 🏈
A starting safety and the team’s leading rusher from 2025 are both on the move, thinning two position groups that were already trending toward portal-heavy resets.

🧠 Linebacker Room on Thin Ice 🧠
Graduations, transfers, and injuries have stripped the middle of the defense down to the studs — making portal additions not optional, but mandatory.

🧱 Roster Needs, Ranked 🧱
From quarterback urgency to lower-priority depth adds, we stack FSU’s portal needs in the order that actually matters — and explain why missing at the top changes everything.

🚪 Depth Attrition Continues 🚪
Another young offensive lineman exits, reinforcing a growing offseason theme: developmental patience is gone in the portal era.

🧱 Interior DL Targets to Watch 🧱
A tiered look at the big bodies FSU could pursue to stabilize the middle of the defensive line — from high-end swings to reliable adult-in-the-room options.

This isn’t about panic — it’s about precision. The window is short, the margins are thin, and the decisions made between now and mid-January will define how credible 2026 can be.

Let’s get into it.

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🚪 Starter Safety Ashlynd Barker Enters Transfer Portal 🚪

Florida State is losing a proven defensive contributor as safety Ashlynd Barker plans to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal.

🔥 What’s Happening

• Barker, a redshirt junior, emerged as a starter in 2025 as the boundary safety in Tony White’s three-safety defense.

• He will have one season of eligibility remaining.

📊 2025 Production

• 48 tackles

• 5.0 tackles for loss

• 3.5 sacks

• 2 pass breakups

His physicality and length consistently showed up near the line of scrimmage, especially as a pressure piece in sub-packages.

🧠 Why This One Stings

• Safeties coach Evan Cooper publicly praised Barker early in the season, calling him an “NFL player” based on his size, movement skills, intelligence, and approach.

• Barker was a JUCO evaluation win, arriving in 2023 as a low-profile addition and developing into a reliable starter by 2025.

• A lingering shoulder injury appeared to impact his late-season effectiveness, but the overall trajectory was clearly upward.

🔍 Big Picture

• Barker finishes his FSU career with 78 tackles over three seasons.

• His departure further thins a defense already facing portal churn, reinforcing how aggressively FSU will need to restock the secondary this cycle.

👉 Full context on Barker’s decision, his development at FSU, and what this means for the Seminoles’ defensive rebuild at the source

🏃‍♂️🚪 FSU RB Gavin Sawchuk Entering Transfer Portal 🚪🏃‍♂️

Florida State is losing its most productive running back from the 2025 season as Gavin Sawchuk plans to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal when it opens this week.

📌 What Happened

• Sawchuk’s decision was confirmed by his agent to On3

• One year of eligibility remaining

• Former Oklahoma RB who transferred to FSU last offseason

📊 2025 Production

• Led FSU backs with 486 rushing yards on 109 carries

• 8 rushing TDs, plus 13 catches for 121 yards and 1 TD

• Usage declined sharply late in the season (4 carries per game over final five weeks)

🔄 Why This Matters

• Sawchuk and Kam Davis both entering the portal

• Leaves FSU with just two returning RBs for 2026:

  • Samuel Singleton (Jr.)

  • Ousmane Kromah (So.)

• FSU signed four-star RB Amari Thomas in the 2026 class, but portal help now feels inevitable

🧠 Big Picture
The running back room is officially in flux. Whether Gus Malzahn wants to find a true RB1 in the portal or build a committee from scratch, this position just moved up the offseason priority list.

👉 Full details on Sawchuk’s decision and what it means for FSU’s RB outlook at the source

🧠 Linebacker Reset: Portal Help Now a Must for FSU 🧠

Florida State is heading into portal season with clear needs at linebacker — and very little margin for error.

📉 Why the Room Is Thin

• Three of FSU’s top five tacklers at linebacker are gone:

  • Elijah Herring and Stefon Thompson exhausted eligibility

  • Omar Graham Jr. is entering the transfer portal

• Young depth has also taken hits:

  • Jayden Parrish (2024 signee) is transferring after limited snaps

  • Ethan Pritchard continues recovery after a tragic August shooting

🔒 Who’s Actually Back

• Blake Nichelson — Strong second-half jump; 26 of his 43 tackles came in the final six games, with major PFF improvement

• Justin Cryer — Grew into Tony White’s 3-3-5; graded above 60.0 in five of the final six games

• Depth only beyond that:

  • AJ Cottrill (15 tackles, 2.5 TFL)

  • Caleb LaVallee, who missed most of 2025 due to injury

🧩 Freshmen Are Coming — But Can’t Be the Plan

• FSU signed four high school linebackers in the 2026 class

• Headliner: Izayia Williams (No. 1 LB nationally by Rivals), enrolling early and expected to be physically ready

• Also added: Karon Maycock, Daylen Green, and Noah LaVallee

That’s promising long-term — but risky short-term.

🎯 Portal Target to Know

• Chris Jones (Southern Miss)

  • Sun Belt’s leading tackler

  • 134 tackles (10.3 per game) as a sophomore

  • Two years of eligibility remaining

  • Early competition: Kansas and Ole Miss

🔍 The Bottom Line

FSU ideally needs two portal linebackers — but at minimum, one immediate-impact starter. Relying on freshmen or thin depth in the middle of the defense isn’t realistic in the ACC.

👉 Full linebacker breakdown, portal targets, and timeline details at the source

🚪 OL Manasse Itete Enters Transfer Portal 🚪

Florida State adds another depth piece to its portal departures as the offseason shuffle continues.

📌 The Details

• Manasse Itete, a redshirt freshman offensive lineman, is entering the NCAA Transfer Portal

• Appeared in one game during the 2025 season

• Redshirted in 2024 without seeing game action

🧱 Player Profile

• 6’5”, 307 pounds

• Signed with FSU out of Central Catholic (Modesto, CA)

• Native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

• Will have three years of eligibility remaining

🔍 What It Means

• This is a depth departure rather than a front-line loss

• Reinforces the need for FSU to continue rebuilding OL depth through the portal, especially with spring availability in mind

• Another reminder that young developmental players aren’t waiting around during roster transitions

👉 More context on Itete’s departure and FSU’s evolving offensive line picture at the source

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🧭 FSU’s Transfer Portal Needs, Ranked 🧭

With the portal opening and the front office reset underway, here’s how Florida State’s roster priorities stack up — in order of true urgency.

🔥 1) Quarterback

• Must land a starter in the portal

• Two straight portal QB misses can’t become three

• Castellanos and key depth are gone

Miss here and nothing else matters.

🧱 2) Offensive Line

• Five starters to replace

• Expect 3–4 portal additions, including multiple starters

• One of the most expensive rebuilds on the roster

🔒 3) Cornerback

• Both 2025 starters are gone

• Need a CB1 plus a rotational piece

• Scheme fit remains a concern

⚡ 4) EDGE

• Pass rush was inconsistent and blitz-dependent

• FSU must add at least one true disruptor

• Likely two portal additions

🧠 5) Linebacker

• Coverage issues were repeatedly exposed

• Limited returning experience

• Expect two athletic portal LBs

🛡️ 6) Defensive Line

• Young talent eases the load

• Still need one starter and one depth piece

📦 7) Tight End

• Virtually no returning production

• Need one starter + one blocker

• Important, but not a premium spend

🧍 8) Safety

• Three-safety scheme raises the floor of need

• At least one starter required, depth still thin

🎯 9) Wide Receiver

• Top of the room could return

• Likely a rotational add, not a priority

🏃 10) Running Back

• No clear RB1 in 2025

• Portal interest expected, role and spend TBD

👉 Why It Matters:
This portal cycle isn’t about volume — it’s about precision. If Florida State hits at quarterback, offensive line, and edge, the entire roster outlook changes fast.

👉 Full breakdown, context, and portal intel at the source

🧱 Interior DL Targets to Watch as Portal Opens 🧱

With the transfer portal days from opening, Florida State is hunting for one more impact interior defender — ideally a big body who can absorb snaps, win early downs, and keep the pass rush clean around him.

FSU has promising pieces (Daniel Lyons, Mandrell & Darryll Desir, Deante McCray, Kevin Wynn), but the rotation still needs one proven add to stabilize the middle.

🌟 High-End Starters (Heavy Competition)

Devan Thompkins — USC

• 6’5”, 290 | 31 tackles, 3 sacks

• NFL frame with interior/outside flexibility

• Production is streaky, but movement skills are real

Emmanuel Oyebadejo — Jacksonville State

• 6’7”, 295 | 41 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 41 pressures

• Massive frame, disruptive motor, clear NFL upside

• Previously recruited by FSU; familiarity helps

🔥 Clear P4 Starters

Michai Boireau — Florida

• 6’4.5”, 349

• True nose tackle, point-of-attack anchor

• Limited pass rush, elite run utility

Mateen Ibirogba — Wake Forest

• 6’3”, 296 | 26 QB pressures

• Quick first step, versatile alignment

• Strong three-down projection

Malik Blocton — Auburn

• 6’3”, 300

• Best attacking a single gap

• Athletic profile fits multiple fronts

Malcolm Alcorn-Crowder — Kansas State

• 6’6”, 305 | 18 pressures on limited snaps

• Scheme-versatile DT/DE

• Sneaky disruption upside

Ahmad Breaux — LSU

• 6’3”, 278

• Played out of position at center alignment

• Strength + quickness pop in better fit

John Walker — UCF

• 6’4”, 324 | 40 tackles

• Above-average run stopper

• Strong mutual interest with FSU

🧠 Solid Contributors / Probable Starters

Kenny Ozowalu — UTSA

• 6’4”, 270 | 6 TFL, 3 sacks

• Odd-front friendly, high motor

• Strong P4 projection

Derrick LeBlanc — UCF

• 6’5”, 310

• Former blue-chip with flashes

• Length + versatility worth betting on

Traevon Mitchell — USF

• 6’0”, 282 | 29 tackles

• Interior pass-rush specialist

• Not an every-down player, but useful role fit

👉 Why It Matters:
FSU doesn’t need volume on the interior — it needs one reliable adult in the room. Land the right body inside, and everything from edge pressure to linebacker play gets easier.

👉 Full tier list, eval notes, and portal intel at the source

And that’s a wrap!

Florida State doesn’t need to win every battle over the next two weeks. It just needs to win the right ones. Quarterback. The line. One or two difference-makers on defense.

Get those right, and the rest starts to fall into place. Miss again, and the offseason gets a lot longer.

We’ll keep tracking every move.

— Chief