A look at FSU football roster on defense. Who is back? Potential additions from portal

Another wild Florida State football season has come to a close, leaving a handful of questions on the defensive side of the ball for next season.

Multiple opt-outs and transfers left gaps in the Seminoles' roster.

Defensive end Jared Verse, defensive lineman Fabien Lovett, and defensive backs Jarrian Jones, Renardo Green and Akeem Dent have all declared for the NFL Draft.

The Seminoles also lost five defensive players in the NCAA transfer portal.

Going into the offseason, here is what FSU's defensive roster looks like and some possible additions from the portal.

Defensive line (7)

Dennis Briggs Sr. - redshirt senior

Darrell Jackson - redshirt junior

Joshua Farmer - redshirt junior

KJ Sampson - redshirt sophomore

Daniel Lyons - redshirt sophomore

D'Nas White - freshman

Jamoire Flagg - freshman

Analysis: The line could use one or two more pickups out of the portal. Graduating Braden Fiske is a big loss as he accumulated 43 tackles and six sacks this season. Lovett was a sizeable loss on the line as well.

FSU does return Farmer, who had a monster season with 32 tackles and five sacks. He could easily have as much production as Fiske did.

Jackson is back after sitting out this season due to his NCAA Hardship waiver being denied. Ray saw a bit of action as well and made the most of it. This is a solid room, but a little more depth could make it elite.

Ja’Maree Caldwell, a 6-foot-1-inch, 325-pound senior from Houston, could be a good depth piece to bring in. A little bit more experience wouldn't hurt this group, but if they are unable to bring anyone in from the portal, the line should be fine.

Defensive End (9)

Gilber Edmond - redshirt senior

Patrick Payton - redshirt junior

Jaden Jones - redshirt junior

Byron Turner, redshirt junior

Marvin Jones Jr. - junior

Dante Anderson - redshirt sophomore

Aaron Hester - redshirt sophomore

Lamont Green - redshirt freshman

DD Holmes - freshman

Analysis: There was a lot of stress when Payton entered the transfer portal after Verse had already left, but with Payton returning and the addition of Jones out of the portal, this group looks pretty solid. FSU thrived last season off of its edge play as Verse and Payton were fast and hit hard.

Verse is a big gap to fill, but having Payton back helps a lot. Jones could easily take that second starting spot as he played 37 snaps across 12 games and recorded 12 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, one sack, one forced fumble and a fumble recovery this season with Georgia.

Turner and Edmond logged 23 tackles this season, two players that could easily grow into starters next season. The defensive ends have a chance to rotate in a similar way the offensive line did this fall, giving nearly everyone in the entire room a chance to play consistently.

Linebacker (6)

Omar Graham - redshirt sophomore

Blake Nichelson - sophomore

Justin Cryer - redshirt sophomore

Demarco Ward - redshirt freshman

Jayden Parrish - freshman

Timir Hickman-Collins - freshman

Analysis: What's the first thing you notice? Emile Aime is the oldest player in this group as a redshirt sophomore. It is shocking how young the linebacker room is following exits from DeLoach, Bethune and DJ Lundy.

DeLoach declared for the NFL Draft but did not opt out of the Orange Bowl, Bethune was injured and Lundy transferred to Colorado. There was some doubt at the beginning of the season about the linebacker room due to transfers out and lack of depth, but that was quickly silenced.

Graham had a solid season with 23 tackles in 14 games. Nichelson had 17 tackles in 13 games and Cryer has 11. Still, the trio was a ways away from the numbers that DeLoach, Bethune and Lundy put up.

This entire room will need to have a big spring and summer in order to be ready for next fall.

Recruiting-wise, it'd help if FSU was able to pull at least one experienced guy out of the portal to lead this group and pull up the effort early on in the season.

Arkansas redshirt junior Jahiem Thomas is the top uncommitted linebacker prospect in the portal right now, as he totaled 90 tackles and 3.5 sacks this past season. He'd be a strong, veteran piece to add to this youthful group.

Defensive backs (15)

Fentrell Cypress - redshirt senior

Greedy Vance - redshirt senior

Kevin Knowles II - redshirt senior

Shyheim Brown - redshirt junior

Azareye'h Thomas - junior

Quindarrius Jones - sophomore

Conard Hussey - sophomore

Ja'Bril Rawls - redshirt sophomore

Ashlynd Barker - redshirt sophomore

Edwin Joseph, Jr. - redshirt freshman

KJ Kirkland - redshirt freshman

Charles Lester III - freshman

Jamari Howard - freshman

Cai Bates - freshman

Ricky Knight III - freshman

Analysis: The secondary did lose some key pieces to NFL Draft opt-outs. Dent, Jarrian Jones and Green all declared for the draft and opted out, all of whom were huge playmakers in the secondary. However, there is still a lot of experienced, young talent in this group, and a ton of players.

Knowles, Vance, Cypress, Brown and Thomas are all big names coming back.

Thomas had the most impressive stat line with 10 pass breakups on the year, tied for second-most on the team. Brown had the fourth most tackles on the roster with 53.

There's a really good leadership base established here, which is huge for a big-time newcomer in Charles Lester III. This is the defense's deepest room and will be extremely talented come next fall.

Jack Williams covers Florida State athletics for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at jwilliams@tallahassee.com or on X @jackgwilliams. 

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Taking a look at FSU football's defensive roster, possible NCAA portal additions