Bjoern Werner was not worried.
Florida State’s star defensive end had lost his bookend partner, All-America candidate Brandon Jenkins, but was confident the defense would survive.
Werner, who became the most experienced end after Jenkins suffered a foot injury in the season opener, knew the Seminoles could reach into their deep roster and pull out a capable replacement.
“I told you guys before,” Werner said. “His name is going to be big. I told you guys.”
His name: Cornellius Carradine, aka “Tank.”
Carradine, a 6-foot-5, 265-pound senior, did not receive the usual internet hype when he signed in 2011, only because junior college transfers are not given the same treatment as the top-ranked high school seniors.
But Carradine was the No. 1 junior college prospect according to Rivals and SuperPrep after totaling 26 sacks in his two years at Butler (Kansas) Community College. And after a transition year as a backup at FSU, coach Jimbo Fisher said all summer that he had “three” starters at defensive end.
But when Jenkins and Werner are dominating the conversation and receiving All-America mention, No. 3 is overlooked.
No more.
“He’s one of those rare ends that combine size and power along with explosiveness and there’re not a lot of those guys,” Fisher said.
Carradine has stepped into Jenkins’ role and the Seminoles defense has not skipped a beat. After totaling a game-high nine tackles, including 1 1/2 sacks in FSU’s 30-17 victory at South Florida Saturday, Carradine now leads the ACC (sixth nationally) in sacks with six solo and two assists and is third in the league in tackles for loss.
Carradine’s solo sack on the final play of the third quarter Saturday forced USF quarterback Matt Floyd to fumble, allowing linebacker Christian Jones to scoop up the ball and score from 12 yards out.
“They kept running to my side, I guess they picked me out to be the weakest link,” Carradine said. “I knew I would get to them eventually. It felt really good.”
North Carolina State coach Tom O’Brien, whose Wolfpack host the No. 3 Seminoles Saturday, knows better. In fact, O’Brien isn’t sure there is a weak link on the Seminoles’ defensive front.
“They have great skill on the outside,” O’Brien said “They turn those guys loose because the guys in the middle can eat up a lot of blockers and those guys create all kinds of havoc.”
Carradine was added to the Chuck Bednarik Award watch list, presented to the nation’s top defender, last week and was named the ACC’s defensive lineman of the week on Monday. He is climbing the rankings for the top defensive end prospects for the 2013 draft.
And Fisher still sees room for improvement.
Fisher said Carradine has to “clean up a couple of little things” that go along with starting and playing the majority of the snaps.
“I’m talking about some really detailed things,” Fisher said. “If he hits those, it’s going to be scary how good he is because he creates so many big plays with his speed and power.
“He’s going to have a long career in this game.”
Carradine signed with Illinois as a senior at Cincinnati’s Taft High School but did not qualify and enrolled at Butler. He was named the 2010 National Junior College Athletic Association defensive player of the year and went through an intense recruiting process a second time. He chose Florida State over Georgia and Ohio State, enrolling in January of 2011.
Carradine’s ability to get to the quarterback was undeniable when he arrived at FSU, but Fisher wanted to see him use another part of his game.
“It was ingrained in him that speed rushing ends were the guys that made all the money,” Fisher said. “Learning to play the run, being able to bull rush … really made him a much better player.
“That guy’s strong. When you look at him you see power.”
Carradine had 5 1/2 sacks last season as the third defensive end. Now, Fisher is trying to find a player to play Carradine’s old role to help give the starters more of a break.
Carradine and Werner both played about 60 snaps against South Florida, a few too many for Fisher’s liking.
“We’ll cut those down each game a little bit,” Fisher said.
Senior Toshmon Stevens, who has had a huge impact on special teams, and red-shirt freshman Giorgio Newberry are listed as the backup ends and true freshman Mario Edwards’ playing time has increased to help with the depth.
Post correspondent Bob Ferrante contributed to this story
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