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Florida State landed the commitment of JUCO safety Ashlynd Barker from Columbus, Georgia on Tuesday afternoon. Barker, who began his college journey at Iowa Western Community College will help the Seminoles fill a need at the Safety position. With Jammie Robinson off to the NFL, and the roster taking multiple hits from the portal, the Noles needed to create some depth at the position.
After barely being recruited out of high school due to missing time with injury and losing a whole season to the pandemic, Barker decided to go the JUCO route to put himself on the map. Despite redshirting in 2022 he still earned offers from a handful of group of five schools as well as two power five offers from Oregon State and FSU.
Barker is an intriguing addition for FSU. Not only do you get a player with multiple years of eligibility remaining, 4 years to play 4 seasons after redshirting at Iowa Western, but you also get a player with exceptional size coming in at 6-foot-3 200-pounds. There could possibly be some longer-term thinking of a move to linebacker in the future with that size, another position that is also currently thin on depth, but only time will tell.
By mentioning his redshirt in 2022 that does mean FSU is not getting a lot by way of experience. The Noles could potentially look to add another, more experienced, safety if they find one that is a good fit after missing out on UAB transfer Jalen Key who recently chose Alabama as his landing spot.
However, there are plenty of reasons to be excited about this addition. We have seen on multiple occasions this staff’s ability to identify underrated talent early on and Barker is an exceptional athlete with great size and multiple years to develop. While he will be looking to come in and challenge for a starting spot, for now, he will likely help provide much-needed depth behind presumed starters Shyheim Brown and Akeem Dent.
Barker is set to enroll within a week or so which means he will be able to get to work right away. Thanks for reading and Go Noles!
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