LSU Football Recruiting: Tigers' Top Priority on National Signing Day
If you take a look up and down LSU's 2013 recruiting class you will see 26 current verbal commitments. Of those 26 prospects, 12 play on the offensive side of the ball, 13 on defense, and one player —Kendell Beckwith —is listed as an athlete, according to rivals.com.
That is pretty darn good when it comes to numbers on each side of the ball.
So now we ask, what or who is it that LSU needs to make a top priority on National Signing Day?
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When looking at the list of top recruits in 2013 that answer should be pretty glaring right off the bat. You don't have to look far down that list to see that the nation's top prospect, DE Robert Nkemdiche, has LSU listed in his top three school choices.
Nkemdiche was expected to visit LSU soon, but according to Neal McCready of Rebelgrove.com, Nkemdiche had a very successful official visit to Ole Miss this past weekend and likely won't even make an official visit to LSU anymore.
Rueben Foster is another top-notch prospect who had LSU listed in his finalists, but my guess is that Foster will likely stay in his hometown and commit to either Auburn or Alabama.
If this indeed proves to be true, then it is in the Tigers' best interest to move on and focus on filling positions of need for their final spots.
Wide receiver Eddie Jackson of Lauderdale Lake, Fla.-Boyd Anderson was a highly-touted wide receiver prospect that LSU was chasing, and filled a position of need, but he just committed to Alabama this week.
With 26 verbal commitments, LSU's class is pretty close to being set at this point. That means that National Signing Day likely won't hold quite as much excitement as it has in the past for the Tigers.
Two names to keep an eye on are Josh McNeil of Milford Academy in New Berlin, NY, as well as 4-star defensive end Tawshawn Bower.
McNeil dosen't exactly fill a position of need as the Tigers already have two tight end commitments in the 2013 class in Lake Charles (La.) Barbe's DeSean Smith and Northeast Mississippi Community College's Logan Stokes.
But this kid is extremely talented and gives the Tigers another pass-catching option, which they certainly lacked last season from the tight end position.
Bower would be a huge steal for the Tigers as he holds a current verbal commitment to Auburn, but has been looking around since Gene Chizek was relieved of his coaching duties. According to William Weathers of Tigerbait.com, Bowers' had a very positive visit to Baton Rouge and felt very comfortable with both the LSU coaches and players.
The ship may have sailed on the likes of Robert Nkemdiche, Rueben Foster and Eddie Jackson, but don't let it sail on Tashawn Bower.
This kid is the real deal and could be a major steal for this LSU program.
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