Florida State football lands commitment from top transfer defensive end Jared Verse

Florida State has landed one of the top overall players in the transfer portal.

Albany defensive end Jared Verse announced Wednesday that he's committing to FSU over Tennessee and a myriad of other offers from some of the best programs in the country.

Verse was an underrecruited, unranked prospect coming out of high school in 2019, but has been one of the most sought-after transfer targets this offseason. He was the CAA Defensive Rookie of the Year in the spring 2021 season and had 75 tackles, 21.5 tackles for loss and 14.5 sacks over 15 games between the recent spring and fall seasons for the Great Danes.

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The Bloomsburg, Pa. native was ranked as the No. 1 overall player in the transfer portal by The Athletic until Oklahoma quarterback Caleb Williams entered the portal on Monday.

247Sports ranks Verse as the No. 8 overall player in the transfer portal this season and the No. 1 defensive lineman.

The Seminoles were one of the first teams in on Verse when he entered the transfer portal Nov. 30. This paid off in a major way for the Seminoles as they were able to get him on campus for an official visit before the December dead period began.

In the weeks since the dead period began, Verse's recruitment has blown up even more as he's received offers from the likes of Oklahoma, Texas, LSU and Florida.

On Verse's visit, FSU had him talk to recent transfer defensive linemen Jermaine Johnson and Keir Thomas, both of whom had career seasons in 2021 at FSU and earned All-ACC honors.

Verse, who is entering his fourth season of college football, could follow a similar path as a potential one-year player at FSU. However, the 6-foot-4, 247-pound lineman has as many as three years of eligibility left and fills a significant need left by the departures of Johnson and Thomas.

FSU defensive ends Quashon Fuller and Derrick McLendon showed promise in reserve roles this past season and the Seminoles have a few younger ends who could contribute in 2022. But with Verse on board, FSU now has a legit top-end defensive end transfer for the second straight year.

Verse is the eighth transfer addition for the Seminoles this offseason. He's the second this week after FSU landed UCF linebacker transfer Tatum Bethune Tuesday night.

The Seminoles have now addressed needs at wide receiver, offensive line, defensive end, linebacker and defensive back through the portal since their season ended in November.

There may be more additions on the way to FSU's 2022 transfer class, which ranked eighth nationally before Verse committed, but they probably won't get much bigger than this.

Florida State football transfer additions

Wide receiver

Oregon transfer Mycah Pittman

Arizona State transfer Johnny WIlson

Illinois transfer Deuce Spann

Offensive line

Wisconsin transfer Kayden Lyles

Lamar transfer Bless Harris

Defensive end

Albany transfer Jared Verse

Linebacker

UCF transfer Tatum Bethune

Defensive back

Louisville transfer Greedy Vance

Reach Curt Weiler at cweiler@tallahassee.com or follow him on Twitter @CurtMWeiler.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU lands one of the best players in portal in Albany DE Jared Verse