An Update on Recruiting

With the off week, we can catch back up on some other topics we've talked about before but haven't gotten to in a while. The recruiting front is really looking up for the Tigers right now. Back in July, we did a couple of posts entitled "Meet the Beat Alls". Part 1 here, and Part 2 here. These posts profiled some of the real high profile recruits LSU was targeting. We certainly were not going to get all of them, and as I said at the time it was not definite we'd get any of them.

Recently, one of them finally committed to us. Garland, Texas Defensive End Chancey Agayhere committed a week or so ago. He chose us over Florida and Texas, when it looked like he was going to be Florida all the way. He was dropped by Rivals a few months ago from 5-star status to high-4-star status, but may get that 5th star back at some point. He's definitely the highest profile recruit to commit to us this season so far.


But we are not done. We also got a commitment from 3-star Winterhaven, Florida quarterback D.C. Jefferson. Jefferson is a big kid, 6'6"230 pounds, and really good athlete. He runs a 4.7 40 yard dash, and has a 30 inch vertical. People who've seen him play compare him to Byron Leftwich. Byron has had trouble in the NFL, but he was a great college QB. This is not to say that Jefferson will be like Leftwich, but he's got similar size, mechanics, and style. And yes, I know I'm falling into the trap of comparing black quarterbacks to other black quarterbacks, but I don't know much about Jefferson other than what others are saying, and that's what they're saying. He's not as highly regarded at this point as current freshman QB Jarrett Lee, but that can be deceiving. There's no guarantee that Jarrett Lee is going to develop into a player, and LSU was in desperate need of a backup plan for the post-Perrilloux era.

But we are still not done. It appears that LSU may lead for the services of Pennsylvania/New Jersey linebacker Brendan Beal and/or for Tallahassee, Florida cornerback TJ Bryant. Both are currently Rivals 4-stars, but people were very critical of Bryant's recent demotion. I have it on good authority that Bryant is considered the #1 corner in the country by a lot of head coaches. He comes from Seminole country, and from a Seminole feeder school, but everyone is saying that he is open, and that he loved his visit to LSU. It's a long way to signing day, but getting Bryant would be possibly the biggest recruiting coup since Les Miles arrived on campus.

Beal is a high-4-star where he has been all season. He will be announcing on Wednesday, supposedly, and there are rumors circulating that he has told LSU coaches he will be committing to us. There are also rumors going around that he is all Florida, like has been suspected for quite some time.

On the offensive side of the ball, all signs point to us being nearly out of the picture with all-world wide receiver Julio Jones, but it appears that we will have a slew of very good wideouts such as DeAngelo Benton, Chris Tolliver, and DeAndre Brown coming to us. The problem with those guys is that they all have academic issues, and we'll probably be sweating each one of them qualifying.

Scholarships are getting to be in short supply now, and we may get into the position of having to turn good players away.