FSU football lands Florida offensive lineman Richie Leonard IV out of NCAA transfer portal

jack williams, tallahassee democrat

Sat, Jan 13, 2024, 9:15 PM·3 min read

Florida State football had landed another SEC offensive lineman out of the NCAA transfer portal.

Florida junior offensive lineman Richie Leonard IV announced Saturday his intention to transfer to FSU. It is the second straight offensive lineman pickup for the Seminoles out of the portal as Alabama offensive lineman Terrence Ferguson committed to FSU on Thursday.

FSU also added Alabama running back Roydell Williams on Saturday.

The 6-foot-2-inch, 310-pound native of Cocoa, Florida started at left guard in all 12 games for a team-high 755 snaps on the offensive line. His 12th straight start came against FSU on Nov. 25, which ended in a 24-15 Seminole victory.

According to Pro Football Focus, Leonard graded out at 64.2 this season on the offensive line, with a 63.7 pass-blocking grade and a 63.9 rush-blocking grade. During his career he Gainesville he's been a constant presence in the line, playing in 31 games and starting in 14.

He played at Cocoa High School and was a 3-star prospect, ranked as the No. 64 outside guard in the Class of 2020 and No. 125 player in the state's Class of 2020.

Leonard's junior and senior years he recorded 84 pancake blocks in 18 games helping Cocoa reach the 2018 FHSAA Class 4A state championship game and 2019 FHSAA Class 4A state semifinals. He was originally committed to Kentucky before flipping to Florida in July 2019.

Leonard joins an offensive line room made up of, redshirt senior Jeremiah Byers, redshirt senior Darius Washington, redshirt senior Maurice Smith, redshirt senior Keiondre Jones, redshirt junior Robert Scott, redshirt junior Bryson Estes, redshirt sophomore Julian Armella, redshirt sophomore Jaylen Early, redshirt sophomore Kanaya Charlton, redshirt freshman Andre' Otto, redshirt freshman Lucas Simmons, freshman Jonathan Daniels, freshman Manasse Itete, freshman Tye Hylton, freshman Jayden Todd and Ferguson.

He is the 13th transfer addition for FSU in the winter portal class and the 10th since last Saturday.