Before December, Florida State football defensive lineman Braden Fiske was projected as a fourth- or fifth-round selection in the NFL Draft.

And he'd say that was accurate.

The Western Michigan transfer enjoyed a solid season, but has emerged over the last three months as one of the top defensive lineman prospects in this upcoming draft.

Now he's projected to go in the second round.

In the ACC Championship, he recorded nine tackles and three sacks helping FSU to its first ACC title in almost a decade.

About two months later in the Reese's Senior Bowl, Fiske was considered a "draft winner" by draft analysts following his week of practices. He also became the first player in the bowl to switch teams on game day.

Due to roster attrition on the National Team's defensive tackle group, Fiske moved from the American team to the National team.

All that led up to an impressive performance at the NFL Combine, where he ran the fastest 40-yard dash among defensive tackles at 4.78 seconds.

Now in Tallahassee for FSU Pro Day on Friday, Fiske has a whole new outlook on the NFL Draft.

"They're trying to get me at a discount no matter what, but putting up performances like that it kind of forces the team to play their hand," Fiske said.

"It'll be interesting to see, come draft time, who falls in love with you and who's gonna pull the trigger."

Fiske and Furious

In January, assessing what he needed to do at the combine, Fiske wanted to run a 4.7 in the 40-yard dash.

His pre-test was 5.02.

Fiske knew that he could run fast, but had work to do.

"I'm sprinting against Jared [Verse] every day [in practice]. I'm running against coach [Mike] Norvell most days until I got a little tired later in the season, but I knew I could run fast," Fiske said.

After a handful of trials in mock combines, Fiske said that his numbers were hitting where they needed to be and was confident about how fast he was going to run.

"In team interviews, they asked me 'What are you gonna run?' and I was like, 'It's gonna be fast,' Fiske said. "They'd ask 'What's fast?' and I'd ask them 'What do you think I'm gonna run?' They'd say maybe 4.9 or high fours."

"Alright, cool. That's the perfect opportunity."

Hitting the first 10 yards when Fiske ran his official 40, he knew he "was moving." When he crossed the finish line, he released an exasperated "Oh yeah" knowing that he had a strong run.

Fiske didn't find out his time until he got off the field. But judging by the reaction from the audience in Lucas Oil Stadium, he knew it had to be good.

"You get to the back and all the guys are running up to you, and all the scouts are like 'Yo, that was fast,'" Fiske said.

Beyond the stats

While it may seem like Fiske's sudden spike in draft stock came out of the blue, he and his teammates always knew his potential.

"It's just one of those things you don't know until see it in person," Fiske said. "The traits in my game are something you got to see up close and personal. It's not something you just watch on film."

One of the players who praised Fiske, and has been one of his biggest supporters all season, is defensive end Jared Verse.

Verse has held a high draft stock since the beginning of the last season with many predicting him to go early in the first round.

He said that Fiske has always been a dominant player and that stats don't show how good a player really is.

"If stats showed the whole playbook then none of us would be in the conversation," Verse said. "If you look at games he [Fiske] played one through 13, he went insane. It was hard for people to block him."

Fiske's rise in the draft odds and heightened attention is no surprise to Verse.

"It was no shock to me at the Senior Bowl when these guys had trouble blocking him and couldn't do it," Verse said. "That's who he is...He is an athlete, he is a dog, he is Braden Fiske."

Fiske said he's satisfied with his numbers at the NFL Combine and plans to do only positional at Pro Day.

He had a 33.5-inch vertical jump, a 9.9-foot broad jump, a 4.37 shuttle run and 26 reps in the 225-pound bench press.

"Can I go out there and try to run a four again? Maybe, but I think we did enough," Fiske said "We'll go out there, do some position drills and make the most of that."

Jack Williams covers Florida State athletics for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at jwilliams@tallahassee.com or on X @jackgwilliams. 

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Braden Fiske's rise in NFL Draft stock was 'no surprise' to FSU football teammates