LSU Recruiting 2012: Signing Class Is Better Than Most Believe

LSU's 2012 recruiting class wasn't the class that most fans wanted, but it's the class that LSU needed.

With National Signing Day winding down, it looks like the Tigers will finish 12th in ESPN's recruiting rankings, which honestly isn't that bad.

Far too often, fans get caught up in recruiting classes and how many stars a recruit has, rather than focusing on what the team's needs are. After all, those ratings aren't always correct.

Remember when Mo Claiborne came to LSU as a 3-star recruit? Or what about Jacob Hester being a 2-star recruit? The point is don't get too far caught up in how many 5-star recruits LSU has, because time and time again, the Tigers find diamonds in the rough.

As for this year's recruiting class, the Tigers didn't land Mario Edwards, Landon Collins, Cordarrelle Patterson or Gunner Kiel, but they did land some very impressive linebackers, which is what the Tigers needed.

Going into the recruiting season, the Tigers made it a priority to fill the holes and improve the quality of play at the linebacker position. Today, the Tigers landed six recruits that can play linebacker, and signing Kwon Alexander and Lorenzo Phillips was huge for the Tigers.

Alexander is 6'2", 215-pound linebacker with 4.5 speed from Oxford, Ala., and more importantly, he was 29th out of ESPN's top 150 recruits. As for Phillips, he's a 6'1'', 205-pound linebacker with 4.7 speed and he was 135th out of the 150.

The Tigers landed the commitments that fans knew would sign in offensive tackle Vadal Alexander, wide receiver Avery Johnson and running back Jeremy Hill, and they signed a player that I believe will surprise LSU fans in Jerqwinick Sandolph.

Sandolph is a safety that is one of the fastest players in the state, and he's a LaRon Landry-type player. That should get Tiger fans excited.

Rather than panicking because the Tigers lost Toshiro Davis to Texas, Tiger fans should look at No. 75 on ESPN's Top 150 in Alexander, and remember the capability of Hill. When Hill was being recruited last year, he had just as much hype as Kenny Hilliard. And take if from a guy who's seen him live in action, he's the real deal.

All in all, this class is by no means going to make the press happy and please fans because it's not in ESPN's Top 10, but there's more to this class than meets the eye. The Tigers filled positions that they needed to fill, and the future of LSU is still bright.