Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Random Recruiting Jambalaya


Recruiting is about to hit a very slow period now that football season is upon us (thank Gawd!) So before we divert our attention from high school juniors to college juniors, let's recap where we are and where I see LSU going. Afterall, I'm a recruiting guru. I've studied this for over 5 hours cumulative internet surfing time...

LSU has already put together a fantastic recruiting class. Rivals currently says it's the #5 class in the country.

Keep in mind two things. First, this is very early in the game and these kids have yet to play a single down of their senior year of football. Lots can happen (good, bad and otherwise) between now and National Signing Day (NSD - Feb 4, 2009 I think). Second, LSU will probably accept another 6-9 commitments, three of which are likely to be 5 Stars (Randle, Loston, McFarland for argument's sake) and most of which are likely to be in the top 100 to 150 of the various recruiting services. So it's likely that LSU will rise in the rankings, maybe as high as #2 or #3. Crystal footballs and the LSU coaching staff and facilities have that impact on a program.

I definitely think LSU will finish even stronger in this class, landing WR Reuben Randle, stealing safety Craig Loston from Clemson and winning out over Texas in the hunt for DL Jamarkus McFarland. Also look for LB Barkevious Mingo to commit. I also think there's at least one NSD surprise brewing for this class and if I had to pick a position where that might happen, it would be either LB or WR. Surprise names to watch for are Jarvis Jones and Jon Bostic, maybe Chris Williams at LB and Marlon Brown or Kraig Appleton at WR. Another dark horse, one that would be saaa--weeeeet if we could pull it would be to steal RB Trent Richardson from Alabama. There is some thought that he may be considering Florida (he's from Pensacola) or LSU.

In a year when LSU may end up passing on talent like Eddie Lacy, Darrington Sentimore, Christine Michael, etc., you have to believe this is going to be one of the best classes ever at LSU.

Perhaps one of the best, and most unsung, gets of this class is the punter - Derek Helton, a JC player from Kansas. Patrick Fisher boomed LSU out of quite a few bad spots last year. And the Spring Game punting performance was particularly piss poor (yeah, I meant to do that...) So Helton has a chance to come in and make a big splash. Of course, that's next year. We still have to get through this year... Here's hoping Dalfrey's apparently strong leg gets over it's apparent Spring Fever...

So, keep your eyes on the recruiting pages as the season commences. It's going to be fun watching the current commits and the prospects perform and see who ends up signing on the first Wed in February.

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