Warchant Top 40: No. 3 Azareye’h Thomas ready to take over starting and starring role for FSU defense

As the summer arrives and temperatures soar into the 90s in Tallahassee, that can only mean one thing for Warchant subscribers: The return of the Warchant Top 40, where we break down the top 40 players on the Florida State football team.

This is not necessarily a listing of the 40 most talented players on the Seminoles’ roster, but the players we believe will have the opportunity and capability to make the biggest impact this season. And this year’s group might have been the most difficult to determine in the decade-plus history of the ranking.

Partly because Florida State has brought in another impressive group of newcomers and partly because the overall roster is so much deeper than in most years, settling in on a Top 40 was exceedingly difficult. But over the next couple of weeks, we will break down each player who made the list and count our way all the way up to No. 1.

This year’s voting panel consisted of Warchant staff members Gene Williams, Ira Schoffel, Corey Clark, Jeff Cameron, Tom Lang, Aslan Hajivandi and Matt LaSerre.

This latest installment is the No. 3 player on the Warchant Top 40 list.

Previous Installments: Player 4: Malik Benson | Player 5: Darius Washington | Players 6-10 | Players 11-15 | Players 16-20 | Players 21-25 | Players 26-30 | Players 31-35 | Players 36-40 |

No. 3 — Defensive back Azareye’h Thomas

He might not be the No. 1 most important player on the Florida State roster, but pound for pound, talent for talent, he might just be the best.

He certainly seemed to be during the spring.

Azareye’h Thomas is one of the most gifted cornerbacks Florida State has had in recent memory. Even though he wasn’t technically a starter in 2023, he was an enormous contributor for Adam Fuller’s defense. And he was really good then.

If the spring is any indication, he’s even better now. And could be on the verge of an All-America type junior season for the Seminoles.

Thomas is the ideal size for a corner at 6-foot-2 and 194 pounds. He’s one of the fastest players on the team and absolutely one of the most competitive.

The Niceville native made a name for himself in preseason practice in 2022, and while he had some nice moments as a true freshman and became a rotation player near the end of the year, he wasn’t a star by any means. He had his ups and downs.

As a sophomore in 2023, there were a whole lot more ups. And he showed off an upside that was maybe as high as anyone’s on the team. He didn’t start a single game until the Orange Bowl, but playing behind Renardo Green and Fentrell Cypress, he got plenty of snaps, and was ranked as one of the top defenders on the team by Pro Football Focus.

Thomas played 493 snaps on the season, which was more than all but six players on the entire Florida State defense. So, while he was technically a backup, he wasn’t really a backup. He was a big-time contributor in 2023 and figures to be one of the best cornerbacks in the country in 2024.

His overall grade of 75 on PFF was higher than teammate Braden Fiske. And his forced incompletion percentage was higher than both Renardo Green and Jarrian Jones, both of whom were selected on Day 2 of the NFL Draft a few months ago.

There’s a chance, if Thomas reaches that full potential and looks like the player we saw in the spring, that he could have his name called even higher in the 2025 NFL Draft.

VOTING BREAKDOWN: Gene 3; Ira 3; Corey 4; Jeff 6; Tom 8; Aslan 4; Matt 2.

Talk about this story with other die-hard Florida State football fans on the Tribal Council.

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