Nobody can say Derwin James isn't confident.
Coming off a knee injury that washed out his sophomore season, and with just 15 games of career experience, the Florida State safety said Thursday at the ACC Kickoff that he's the best player in college football. Responding to a question about Sports Illustrated selecting him for that distinction, James didn't disagree.
"I do think I'm the best player in the country, because of the way I make people around me better and how I help my teammates," James said, per the Tampa Bay Times.
James had a spectacular freshman season in 2015, but tore knee cartilage after just two games last year and missed the remainder of the season following surgery. With just a season plus two games on his resume, however, he enters his junior year with the highest of expectations. Last month, NFL.com analyst Daniel Jeremiah evaluated three James game films -- two from 2015 plus his season-opening performance against Ole Miss last year -- and came away impressed. Although Jeremiah wrote that James could stand to improve in a couple of areas, he sees James potentially as a "faster, more athletic version of Kam Chancellor." NFL.com analyst Bucky Brooks has likened James to a cross between 2017 first-round draft picks Jamal Adams and Reuben Foster.
James made 91 tackles for FSU in 2015 and was a major presence behind the line of scrimmage, with 4.5 sacks among 9.5 tackles for loss. He's a versatile defender who can play effectively in the deep part of the field, or blitz, on third downs. If James is indeed the best player in the country, he'll have a vast and closely watched stage on which to prove it when FSU faces SEC champion Alabama in a season opener Sept. 2.
Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter *@ChaseGoodbread*.