Florida State came into 2026 thinking its defensive front could be a real calling card for Tony White’s defense. Three games later, that idea has not held up.
The Seminoles are getting pressure, just not nearly enough payoff from it. Through three games, Florida State owns a 64.5 pass-rush grade from Pro Football Focus, which is tied for 104th nationally with UTSA and Clemson. The numbers behind that grade tell the same story: 37 total pressures, only four sacks, and an average of 1.33 sacks per game that leaves FSU tied for 96th in the country.
A big part of the concern centers on Mandrell Desir, who was expected to build on a freshman year that produced 6.5 sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss, the most of any ACC freshman. Instead, his first three games have been quiet.
Desir has a 66.2 pass-rush grade on 71 rushes, with just two pressures, one hit and one hurry, and no sacks. His 1.4 pass-rush productivity rating and 13% win rate show a player logging plenty of snaps without consistently getting home.
The snap counts from the early schedule underline it. Against Alabama, Desir rushed 23 times and came away with one pressure. Against SMU, he had one pressure on 20 chances.
Darryll Desir has been more active, but Florida State still hasn’t gotten the kind of disruption it needs from him. He leads the regular defensive linemen with a 73.3 overall pass-rush grade and has four pressures on 34 pass-rush snaps, but all four have been hurries.
There are still no sacks and no quarterback hits to show for it. His 24.2% pass-rush win rate suggests he is getting the better of blockers more often than not, but those wins are not turning into the kind of plays that break drives.
That is the crux of the problem for Florida State. The Seminoles do not just need linemen who can make an offensive tackle uncomfortable. They need someone who can blow up a possession.
Rylan Kennedy has provided the most production so far, leading FSU with six pressures and accounting for one of the team’s three sacks, though his pass-rush grade sits at 68.5. Jalen Anderson has seven pressures on 68 rushes, but his 63.4 grade and 13.8% win rate show limited efficiency. Deamontae Diggs has three hurries on 54 pass-rush opportunities and a 53.2 grade.
The interior group has not offered much help, either. Daniel Lyons has two pressures on 68 rushes.
Kevin Wynn has none on 18 attempts. Jordan Sanders also has zero pressures on 21.
As a group, Florida State has generated 14 pressures on 171 individual pass-rush opportunities, but only one of those pressures turned into a sack. Against SMU, the Seminoles created 10 pressures and still did not record a sack.
Pressure alone can still matter, but Florida State has not been strong enough in other areas to survive that tradeoff. The Seminoles are giving up 340.7 passing yards per game, which ranks near the bottom of the FBS, and opponents are converting 51.2% of their third downs.
That makes the front seven even more important.
Florida State does not need one player to do everything. It needs more of its rushers to turn chances into hits, sacks and disrupted throws.
Darryll Desir is winning often enough to hint that bigger numbers could be coming. Mandrell Desir has already shown the ceiling he brings after last season’s freshman breakout.
But right now, through three games, Florida State has a pass rush full of occasional wins and not enough finishing. For a defense already dealing with issues on the back end, that is a hard combination to cover up.
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The outburst also came with some grit behind it, because Howard was coming off losses to Valdosta and Perry before finally breaking through. Poole also chipped in seven tackles and a tackle for loss, underscoring how much he affects the game on both sides of the ball, and he and his teammates made clear afterward that the lesson was about learning to keep fighting until the end. [Read more 🡒]