In an effort to not waste the time of our readership, we're consolidating some players who play the same or similar positions, and who have little to no chance of playing significant snaps. Davarez Bryant and Keith Bryant are two of these players.
Davarez Bryant | #91 | 6'3 234 | Defensive end
Keith Bryant | #95 | 6'2 312 | Defensive tackle
Biographies via media guide
Davarez Bryant: Under the radar prospect who was a target of UCF, USF, Cincinnati and Louisiana Lafayette before receiving interest and offers from programs like Alabama, Florida State, Kentucky and Purdue among others...highest star rating is three from both ESPN and 247Sports...first year of playing football came as a senior and he is being recruited on his raw tools and potential to continue to develop...put up impressive numbers in his only high school season posting 35 tackles, 10 TFL and four sacks...played high school basketball before switching to football...attended a different high school every year since he was a freshman...eventually chose Florida State over Iowa State.
Keith Bryant: Has been a primary target of the Seminoles for a long time...a disruptive interior force, Bryant's initial burst off the line and into the backfield is one of his strengths, but he also shows the ability to play physically at the point of attack as well...helped his Atlantic High team to an 8-3 record, which included a district title and a trip to the FHSAA Class 7A state playoffs...participated in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl...holds a 4-star ranking from ESPN, Rivals, 247 and Scout sites...had more than a dozen offers from top 25-type programs and initially committed to Miami...chose Florida State over the Hurricanes, South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Penn State.
The recruiting stories of Davarez and Keith Bryant could not be any more different.
Davarez was a complete unknown to most, and his first full year of football was in 2012. An athletic player with a good frame, he is very much still learning the game. Florida State kept its recruitment of Bryant relatively quiet, and he was able to qualify and has been working out in the summer program. I question the "offer" from Alabama that FSU lists in the official media guide, but that's just the school looking at information from recruiting sites, and I can't fault them for that, since they have no way of verifying it.
Keith Bryant, on the other hand, racked up scholarship offers from many of the top programs in the country. Built like a refrigerator box, he is a good blend of power and first-step quickness. He was widely regarded as one of the 20-best defensive tackles nationally.
In 2013, however, it will be tough for either Bryant to earn significant playing time.
Davarez would seem to be a candidate for playing time, because of FSU's lack of depth at defensive end, but he is so raw as a player that the proposition of him playing and being effective is iffy at best. Florida State currently has Dan Hicks, Desmond Hollin, Giorgio Newberry, Mario Edwards, Jr., Chris Casher and Demarcus Walker ahead of Davarez Bryant at end. If FSU was to suffer a rash of injuries at end, it would be more likely that FSU plays more three-man fronts than it is that the Seminoles would burn the redshirt of Bryant.
Keith will open the year behind Timmy Jernigan, Demonte McAllister, Jacobbi McDaniel, Nile Lawrence-Stample, Derrick Mitchell, Eddie Goldman and Justin Shanks. That's three former five-stars, and four former four-stars. Absent massive injuries to the defensive interior, it's likely that Keith Bryant is headed for a redshirt. If Bryant had signed with Miami, he would immediately have been the Hurricanes' third or fourth best defensive tackle.
Both players have the potential to be good or very good players at Florida State, it's just not likely to happen in 2013.