Tag: Florida State University

Unpacking Future Packers: No. 13, Florida State RB Trey Benson

Up next in the Unpacking Future Packers draft preview series is Florida State running back Trey Benson.

The Unpacking Future Packers Countdown is a countdown of 100 prospects that could be selected by the Green Bay Packers in the 2024 NFL draft.

The Green Bay Packers just gave Josh Jacobs a four-year deal and is likely the No. 1 running back at 1265 Lombardi Avenue for the foreseeable future. AJ Dillon is back on a one-year deal, and at this moment is a safe bet to be part of the running back rotation. 

With 11 picks at his disposal in the 2024 NFL Draft, Brian Gutekunst will likely be on the lookout for a running back to team with those two veterans. 

A potential target on Day 2, is Trey Benson. The Florida State running back checks in at No. 13 on the Unpacking Future Packers Countdown.

An Oregon transfer, Benson rushed for 990 yards and nine touchdowns during his first season in Tallahassee. 

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This past season the former three-star recruit rushed for 906 yards and 14 touchdowns. Benson added 20 receptions for 227 yards and one touchdown. 

“Benson was often someone FSU relied upon for a spark when their offense got stagnant,” Zach Blostein, a reporter for Noles247.com, said. “It seemed whenever FSU needed a big play, Benson rose to the occasion and delivered it. With a backup quarterback against rival Florida on the road, he, along with their defense were the reasons they won that game. He’d often bail out FSU’s inconsistent offensive line play by breaking a few tackles.”

At 6-0 and 216 pounds, Benson is rocked up. He’s a no-nonsense style runner with outstanding contact balance. He brushes off initial contact like the defender is an annoying little gnat. He keeps his legs pumping to churn out extra yards. He’s a forward finisher. According to Pro Football Focus, Benson racked up 1,249 yards after contact and forced 124 missed tackles over the past two seasons. He’s capable of picking up the tough yards between the tackles to move the chains on third and short. 

Benson makes sharp lateral cuts without having to gear down. To go along with his charged-up running style Benson has home run ability. He has the speed to destroy pursuit angles. Benson became the first player in program history to have an 80-yard rushing and receiving touchdown and matched the program record with three 80-yard touchdowns. 

 

“He’s super well put together and runs in a way where he’s very difficult to bring down,” Blostein said. “If a defensive player is attempting to get Benson to the ground, they better come with some real force and proper technique. Because someone that’s 220 pounds and runs a 4.39 40-yard dash, can make defenders look silly, which he did often.”

Benson has soft, reliable hands. The Oregon transfer is a reliable and dynamic option on screens. Benson has the functional strength and alertness to be trusted in pass protection. 

“He is a surprisingly good pass-catching option out of the backfield,” Blostein said. “His speed is elite so when you pair that ability with impressive hands for a running back, you have a real threat. A play that puts this on display perfectly is his long catch and run for a TD against Wake Forest this past season. He caught a short pass and took it the distance because he just moved exceptionally well for his size, which I honestly think catches defenders by surprise when he’s in the open field.”

Fit with the Packers

Dillon is back on a cheap, one-year deal. He is not a lock to make the roster. However, given the current state of Green Bay’s running back room, one would think he’s a safe bet to make the final cut. 

That doesn’t mean he’ll be the No. 2 back behind Jacobs. If the Packers add a player with Benson’s talent, he could easily supplant Dillon as second in command in Green Bay’s running back room and could be the long-term No. 2 behind Jacobs.

“I’d draft Benson because I think he’s the perfect NFL back. His size/speed combo should have every NFL team in need of a ‘back intrigued because I feel like that skill set is exactly what some teams in the league are missing. Despite starting his career at Oregon with a knee injury, he’s shown to have been pretty durable since he recovered and transferred to FSU. He’s also just a great human being and someone a coach should absolutely want in their locker room. His teammates at FSU couldn’t have spoken more highly of Benson during and after his career in Tallahassee.”

Gutekunst has four Day 2 picks at his disposal, which gives him a ton of flexibility. It would not be surprising to see him take a running back with the 58th overall pick or with one of the two third-round picks. Benson has a well-rounded skill set and would provide the Packers with another young weapon to make life easier for Jordan Love.

Revamped Seminole Legacy Golf Club at Florida State set to hold two major college events this week

The facility hosted an NCAA Men’s Regional Championship in the spring of 2021.

This week will be a busy week for Seminole Legacy Golf Club.

For the first time during the 2023 golf season, the club will be hosting home tournaments for both Florida State men’s and women’s golf.

The men’s tournament, the Seminole Intercollegiate, will kick off with the first and second rounds of the tournament Monday. The third and final round is set for Tuesday, with an award ceremony scheduled for 3:30 p.m.

Boston College, VCU, Indiana, Lipscomb, Ole Miss, Troy, UAB, Southern Illinois, Arkansas State, Florida Atlantic, Florida Gulf Coast, Jacksonville, Lamar and Northern Alabama are also set to participate.

Men’s head coach Trey Jones is excited about the opportunity to host.

“It’s going be a lot of fun. It is. It’s a long time coming,” Jones said. “We hosted a regional here, right after we opened but we have not had a men’s tournament for the last couple of years.

“I know our players are looking forward to having your families in town and getting ready to show off what we feel is one of the best collision courses in the country.”

The Seminoles are led by three all-American golfers in redshirt juniors Cole Anderson, Brett Roberts and Frederik Kjettrup.

Anderson had a career-best performance at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate, finishing second at the Mirabel Golf Club, while Kjettrup won the Watersound Invitational by shooting an FSU three-round record 18-under par (66-67-65) and Roberts tied for ninth at the Watersound Invitational, shooting a 7-under 209 (68-67-74).

“The game feels good, just a couple of mistakes away from a few really good wins,” Anderson said. “I think everyone is rounding into form here. The plan is to keep progressing and getting better with each event. Obviously, you want to peak at the end of the spring.”

Seminole Legacy
Florida State’s Seminole Legacy Club. (Photo: Courtesy of FSU Athletics)

Right after the men’s tournament wraps up, the women’s golf team will host the Florida State Match Up, starting Friday and running through Sunday.

While the men’s team has not hosted a tournament for a couple of years, the women also hosted the same tournament last season.

But this weekend will be the first opportunity to host one this season.

“It’s our only time all season we get to host something,” FSU women’s coach Amy Bond said. “The kids will get to sleep in their own bed, get to play in front of the home crowd.

“We’re pretty excited. Plus being here at Seminole Legacy, who can complain about this place? It’s a good test and we have a good field coming in.”

Florida State (15, Golfstat ranking from March 1) will host Kentucky (21), Kent State (35), Purdue (51), Oklahoma (56), Tulane (59), Notre Dame (81), Mercer (96), East Tennessee State (103), Coastal Carolina (128), Augusta (152) and Daytona State (2 – NJCAA) for the weekend.

The first of the three-round, 54-hole tournament kicks off Friday, with one round per day, with twelve teams teeing off in twosomes for the first two rounds and then in a final round shotgun in threesomes.

“I am really excited about it,” freshman Lottie Woad said. “This is my first year, so I haven’t played at home yet, so I am ready for it.”

The Seminoles have enjoyed success, finishing second at the IJGA Collegiate Invitational at the Guadalajara Country Club in Guadalajara, Mexico in early February.

They were playing in the Valspar Augusta Invitational at Forest Hills Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., last weekend.

Woad, along with junior Charlotte Heate are the leaders of the program.

“It’s been decent,” Heath said of the season so far. “There’s been some ups and downs. Some things have been achieved and some we’re still working on.

Golf course underwent a $10 million renovation

The university partnered with Nicklaus Design to redesign the 57-year-old course, located in southwest Tallahassee adjacent to Innovation Park. Legacy courses are designed by Nicklaus and his son Jack II.

While the course retained its name after Veller, the former FSU golf and football coach who passed away in 2006, it is also known as the Seminole Legacy Golf Club.

The renovation included a complete redesign of the golf course, with only one hole (the 18th) remaining from the original routing.

The university still owns the course, which is home to the Seminoles’ men’s and women’s golf teams. The facility hosted an NCAA Men’s Regional Championship in the spring of 2021.

“While this could not have been possible without the commitment and support from our university administration and generous donors, I truly believe we are not completely satisfied and we know the course will only continue to get better,” Jones said.

Originally designed by Bill Amick, the course opened in 1962.

It is currently operated by Troon, the world’s largest golf and golf-related hospitality management company, located in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Jim Henry of the Tallahassee Democrat contributed to this report.

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Women’s History Month Spotlight: NWSLPA President Tori Huster

Not only do they have the union advocating for their best interests, but they are being educated on how to advocate for themselves.

This Women’s History Month, I will be spotlighting women athletes and their achievements in college, after college, and beyond. Athletes are Humans First and while I want to highlight their athletic ability and achievements, I also want to point a spotlight on what they are doing off their field of play.

Tori Huster is a professional athlete in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and the president of the National Women’s Soccer League Players Association (NWSLPA). Huster was first elected to the position in 2020 and was re-elected by the players in 2022. The NWSLPA is the official collective bargaining organization for the NWSL players.

On Jan. 31st, 2022 at approximately 8.30 pm ET, the National Women’s Soccer League’s Players Association announced they had ratified the first-ever collective bargaining agreement in women’s soccer history. As the president of the association, Huster helped oversee the collective bargaining process.

On April 29th, 2022, the Executive Director Meghann Burke of the NWSLPA and NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman signed the collective bargaining agreement on the field before Angel City’s regular season home opener.

“It’s a big focus of mine to make sure players know their rights and to make sure clubs are abiding by what is actually in the agreement. While the CBA is a historic moment for the league, there are plenty of areas up for interpretation within the agreement,” Huster said in a press release issued by her club, the Washington Spirit.

Huster started soccer at a young age and went on to play D1 soccer at Florida State University where she was a four-year starter, first-team Scholar All-American by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America in 2011, a third-team All-American, and first-team All-ACC in her final season at FSU.

She also shined in the classroom where she was the recipient of the Golden Torch Award for achieving the highest GPA among soccer student-athletes during the 2009-10 semester, was a four-time FSU Dean’s List honoree, and FSU President’s List – 4.0 GPA in the Spring of 2009. Huster initially thought she might want to be a physician’s assistant and even shadowed a few after college.

The league for professional women’s soccer in the United States folded in 2012 just as Huster was making her way into the league. She played for a few semi-professional leagues and then went overseas to play in Australia for one season. However, her professional soccer career was just taking off and she found she was destined to make history for women athletes around the world.

In 2013, the NWSL emerged and professional soccer was once again an option for players domestically. Huster was drafted by the Spirit with the club’s second pick in the 2013 NWSL Supplemental Draft.

“While Huster played with the Spirit, she took odd jobs to supplement her league pay, which she said was less than $20,000 per season for her first few years. She wrote articles, took photography gigs, trained youth players, coached for club teams, walked dogs, and worked as the executive assistant for a natural turf grass consultant at Maryland Soccerplex, the latter which helped her develop small business and organization skills that would translate to her work with the players association,” according to her interview with Club Eleven Magazine.

Taking odd jobs and working to make a living wage is not new to the world of women’s sports, so Huster had a first-hand understanding of the trials and tribulations players were facing to play the sport they loved.

Huster and her teammates worked through harassment and advocated for a change of ownership all while working their additional jobs and playing professional soccer. Something had to give.

“In past years, there has not been a place for players to go, or that they feel comfortable going if they have experienced sexual abuse, verbal abuse, any type of harassment,” Huster noted in her interview with Club Eleven Magazine. “The league in the past has said that they had a policy which they were not able to provide us at the beginning of this year, when we demanded that they put it into place right now before the start of the season. We believe that they may have been operating with US Soccer’s anti-harassment policy. But again, they didn’t provide that… If they were using it, players didn’t know, and players didn’t know where to go if they had issues.”

While the league has gone through its ups and downs, the players are always at the forefront of positive changes. That’s what having a union can do for athletes. Not only do they have the union advocating for their best interests, but they are being educated on how to advocate for themselves.

Fast forward to the end of 2021. The NWSLPA entered into a group licensing agreement with OneTeam Partners, entered into its first sponsorship agreements with Ally Bank and MasterCard, hired a business agent to manage business affairs, and entered into a Commercial Rights Agreement.

“I think that if we [the players, the NWSLPA] are able to empower other people to speak up… if we can be very transparent and honest about that process, individually, and as a collective, I think that gives other people the courage to do the same in whatever walk of life that they are living,” Huster told Club Eleven Magazine.

While the league is still relatively young, the players have taken the lead in advocating for their rights and Huster, along with her predecessors has helped pave the way. These players understand they are working for the greater good and might not see all the changes implemented during their playing careers or even their lifetimes.

“We’re going to be able to get things done that we could never have imagined before… because we’re not worried about the league crumbling down because we know that we are the league,” Huster told Club Eleven Magazine.

 

McKenzie Milton made his long-awaited return to college football and sports fans were emotional

Welcome back to college football, McKenzie Milton.

It’s taken over 1,000 days for McKenzie Milton to make his return to a college football field and he did so in a major moment for Florida State.

Milton’s story is a familiar one if you’re a college football fan. In November 2018, Milton was injured playing for University of Central Florida, an injury that threatened his career due to its unexpected severity and recovery complications along the way.

In 2021, now with Florida State, Milton has taken his first snaps as a college quarterback in nearly three years. On Sunday, Milton checked into FSU’s game against Notre Dame after quarterback Jordan Travis lost his helmet and could not compete in the next play.

Milton’s first play? A gorgeous completion to get FSU rolling down 38-28 in the fourth quarter.

In his first drive, Milton went four for four and led Florida State to a touchdown to kick off the comeback. In total, Milton went five of seven for 48 yards as Florida State tied up Notre Dame to send the game into overtime.

Though Milton’s night ended there, as did Florida State’s comeback hopes in a 41-38 loss, this was an incredible and inspiring moment to be witness to. Here are some other moments from Milton’s emotional comeback to college football.

Watch: Chargers CB Asante Samuel Jr. picks up first NFL interception

Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. intercepted a pass for the first time in his NFL career on Sunday.

One of the reasons why the Chargers drafted cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. was because of his ability to always be around the football.

Samuel displayed that in the first quarter of the preseason exhibition against the 49ers, as the rookie picked off quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo on a ball intended to wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.

Aiyuk had Samuel beat but Garoppolo threw it a bit too high and he capitalized as it came off of his fingertips.

Check it out below:

CB Asante Samuel, Jr. signs rookie deal with Chargers

The Los Angeles Chargers locked up their second-round selection.

The Chargers have signed their second-round pick from the 2021 NFL draft, cornerback Asante Samuel, Jr., his agency announced.

Samuel Jr. is the first rookie on the team to sign their contract.

In three years at Florida State, Samuel Jr. finished with 97 total tackles (71 solo), three tackles for loss, four interceptions, 29 pass deflections, two fumble recoveries and one forced fumble.

Samuel Jr. will serve as a key piece in a cornerback room alongside Michael Davis and Chris Harris, Jr.

New Orleans Pelicans projected to draft Patrick Williams in CBS Sports mock draft

In the final pre-lottery mock draft from CBS Sports on Wednesday, Kyle Boone projected the Pelicans to take Patrick Williams of FSU.

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In the final pre-lottery mock draft from CBS Sports on Wednesday, Kyle Boone projected the New Orleans Pelicans to take a wing player from Florida State. Unlike a handful of previous mock drafts, though, it was not guard/forward Devin Vassell but instead forward Patrick Williams.

A far more raw prospect, Williams is a 6’8″ win player that didn’t have the production of others but has the always-valued potential.

Here’s Boone’s take on Williams with the Pelicans:

“As a freshman at Florida State last season, Patrick Williams’ numbers weren’t eye-popping — he was just a high-level role player who did a lot of things well without much fanfare. But scouts I’ve talked to rave about him and his NBA potential because of his size (6-8), wingspan (6-11) and defensive playmaking potential. Wings with his skill and feel don’t come around often. He’s a raw product offensively and there’s physical development that may be needed before he reaches his potential, but teams see in him a role player in the NBA like he was in college, and that’s a perfect fit in New Orleans with a star like Zion Williamson already in place.”

With the bevy of draft picks the Pelicans will have this season and in coming years, the team can afford to draft players on potential and look to swing big.

Last season, Williams averaged 9.2 points per game and 4.0 rebounds per game in 22.5 minutes per game. He did only hit 32.0% of his 1.7 three-point attempts per game. Williams would fill a specific need for the Pelicans as a wing player that can help provide size and length to the team.

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4 things to know about Jets’ undrafted free agent WR George Campbell

Here are four things to know about Jets undrafted free agent wide receiver, George Campbell, who battled injuries in his collegiate career.

As a former No. 1 recruit coming out of high school, George Campbell never truly lived up to the hype at the collegiate level.

Campbell was decimated by a core muscle injury that ended consecutive seasons at Florida State before he transferred to West Virginia. There he averaged 24.7 yards per catch as a grad transfer. In Morgantown, seven of Campbell’s 19 receptions went for touchdowns. While the potential is certainly there, so are the injury concerns.

The Jets, however, took a flier on the wideout, signing him as an undrafted free agent. So, with that in mind, let’s get to Campbell a bit better.

Top recruit

(Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports)

George Campbell was a can’t miss wide receiver prospect back in high school.

He was a five-star recruit and the seventh-best player in the nation in the 2015 recruiting class, according to ESPN. He was also ranked the No. 1 athlete in the country and third-best prospect in Florida by ESPN.

After originally committing to the University of Michigan and de-committing, Campbell chose Florida State over offers from Auburn, Florida, Georgia and Alabama, among others.

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