Florida State continued rebuilding the offensive line under new coach Herb Hand, who added four-star offensive tackle Chastan Brown to his arsenal on Sunday night. Brown was formerly committed to UCF before Gus Malzahn and Herb Hand departed for FSU, so he was a shoo-in to land in Tallahassee. As he wrapped up his official visit to campus, he made it official with the Seminoles. Brown is what I would consider an intriguing, but high-upside prospect.
On one hand, FSU is getting true tackle length with Brown coming in at 6-foot-7 and having insanely long 37.5” arms. Too often we have seen FSU push guards to the outside to anchor the offensive line with little success. This is why I’m eagerly awaiting the development of Lucas Simmons.
On the other hand, Brown reportedly weighed in at just over 250 pounds during his visit to FSU, meaning he legitimately needs to add at least 50 to 60 pounds of mass to play at the college level. While it is possible, that brings about two questions. 1) How long will it take him to do that? While FSU doesn’t need him to play this year, adding that much mass could be a 2-to-3-year transformation. 2) How does adding that much mass change the athletic qualities you like about him right now?
However, the Warner Robins, Georgia product does possess high upside potential. He just began playing varsity football in 2023, and in only his first season, was named the Region 1-AAAAAA offensive lineman of the year. He is also a standout basketball player, which speaks to his athleticism. Given his exceptional length, Brown has great reach, which allows him to clamp onto and control defenders walling them off from the play, which is a great attribute to possess as a tackle. Brown also moves well in space allowing him to work in the flats on screen plays and climb vertically on run plays, which is a big part of Herb Hand’s blocking scheme. He plays with a competitive edge and is a physical attacker, too.
On the flip side, because he has only been playing at the varsity level for 2 years, he will not only need to add mass but be developed as well. His footwork is questionable at times. With his size, it was not as big an issue in high school as it would be in college. Nonetheless, Brown fits what Hand likes at the tackle position with exceptional length. Incoming transfer Micah Pettus is also 6-foot-7, and both of his tackles at UCF last year stood over that mark as well.
Chastan is a three-star according to On3, but a four-star and the 21st ranked tackle prospect according to 247Sports. He held 29 offers including a handful from schools in the ACC, Big 12, and SEC. One of the most difficult positions to nail every time is the offensive line position, so sometimes, just adding as many high upside bodies as possible is the ticket to finding a future gem and that’s why this is a great addition.
With Brown’s commitment in the fold, it’s time for Coach Storms to take the clay and begin to mold it so Coach Hand to do the final polishing of his skill set. The hope is that with Coach Hand at the helm, we see better development of these high-upside project prospects than we have in the past. If things go well, although it may be a few years down the road, Brown could prove to be a valuable addition for the Seminoles. Thanks for reading and Go Noles!
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