Florida State starting cornerback Xavier Rhodes has decided to return to Tallahassee next season for his redshirt junior season. Rhodes, still having two more years of eligibility, decided the time was not right for him to make the move to the NFL. He will try to improve his draft stock during his redshirt junior season. Rhodes potentially has two more seasons to play on the Seminole defense.
The Seminoles had the chance to lose both starting cornerbacks, as well as the first corner off the bench following this past season in Rhodes, Junior Greg Reid, and Senior Mike Harris. Instead, Florida State will only have to replace Mike Harris, with Rhodes announcing today he will stay and Reid announcing the same way a couple of days prior.
This along with junior defensive end Brandon Jenkins also returning for his senior year assures Florida State as having one of the top defensive units in the country coming into 2012. With these announcements, FSU returns 9 of 11 defensive starters to a unit that finished the year ranked in the top 10 in yards per play nationally.
Underclassmen declaring for the draft is the next step in the college football offseason followed closely by National Signing Day. Redshirt sophomores and juniors have until January 15th to decide whether or not they want to play on Saturdays or Sundays in the coming year. This is important in order for coaches to have an idea of how many scholarships they will have available for incoming freshmen and JUCO transfers.