J.R. "Ego" Ferguson and Kadrone Boone Surprise LSU Tiger Fans

Billy DayFeb 4, 2010

LSU was having a decent 2010 recruiting year but it was not considered a great year as it was failing to address several important position needs.   However , Les Miles surprised everybody by finishing very strong with the four (4) very late and unexpected signings of J.R. "Ego" Ferguson, Jarrett Fobb, Kadrone Boone, and J.C Copeland. Also, there was a Radio interview with Brandon Worle of LaGrange, Ga that really impressed me.   It appears Worle could be a big surprise for the Tigers as he is 6'1" and 227 lbs and not 243 lbs as reported, plus he runs the 40 in 4.5 seconds. With that kind of size and speed Brandon Worle says the coaches are looking at him as a possible tailback instead of FB and he could very well be the future replacement for Charles Scott. With the other signings of (5 star) Spencer Ware and (4 star) Jakori Gore I think Les Miles did a fine job of filling the Running Back needs that had been a big concern for the Tigers.

Going into signing day LSU was also very weak in wide receiver position as they only had one (4 star) wide receiver (James Wright) firmly committed after the decommits of (4 star) Justin Hunter and (5 star) Mike Davis. But, again Miles surprised the Tiger Fans by stealing (4 star) Jarrett Fobb (Texas A&M commit) at the last minute, and then securing (4 star) Kadrone Boone, plus ( 3 star) Armand Williams (Arkansas commit) to make for a very nice recruiting job at the wide receiver position. Actually, most experts are saying that Williams is underrated and he should be a (4 Star) recruit with his size at 6'3" and 200 and runs a 4.4 sec 40 yd plus he is also the State High Jump Champion.

On signing day, defensive line was looking rather bleak with only Ken Adams and Jordan Allen committed, but then Miles and staff again surprised the fans with the last second signings of J.R. "Ego" Ferguson and J.C. Copeland to go along with Jordan Allen and Ken Adams.     With the additions of Frank Wilson (former Tennessee assistant) and Billy Gonzales (former Florida Assistant) as recruiting coordinators, Les Miles and his staff plan to spend much more time on recruiting the instate players plus Georgia, Florida and Texas in the future. Historically, LSU has always been most successful when they concentrate primarily on the state players plus some top picks from surrounding states. You certainly can not ignore the big time prospects out of state, but you have to keep in mind the distance and family pressures that they will have in order to travel and play at an away school. So, unless there is a realistic chance to sign a big time player in California or other far away places, it just does not usually pay off to spend that much time and effort in these far way places.

The only real disappointment the LSU fans have had to endure this year is the loss of Trevon Reed (the #1 ) rivals prospect in the State of Louisiana to Auburn. Les Miles, Frank Wilson, Bill Gonzales and others tried very hard to pursuade Reed to stay in state, but his mind was apparenly made up. Most people feel that LSU was just a little too late with their final recruiting push to lure Trevon Reed while Auburn had been involved for a long time and he apparently felt obligated. Reports say he also wanted to get away from home since his mother passed away last year. It is reported that Reed struggled very hard with his decision, but in the end it was Auburn and best wishes to him.

I would rank this year's LSU recruiting as a surprisingly successful recruting year and one of the best jobs that Les Miles as done since he has been with LSU. These players just seem to be well fitted to the program and the staff seems to have done a good job of filling the teams vital needs. It appears LSU will finish at 6th or maybe 5th in the nation and 4th in the SEC and that is not too bad when you have Florida, Auburn, Alabama, LSU, and Tennessee all in the top 10. It appears the SEC will dominate college football again in recruiting and conference rankings. Les Miles addressed the Tiger's Annual Bayou Bash last night in Baton Rouge, and he promised the fans that he has gotten the message loud and clear about how disappointed the fans were with the 2009 team's finish and says he now has the players and the plans to fix it next year.

In the SEC, I am most surprised at the outstanding job Auburn's Gene Chizik has done in recruiting the # 3 class, but I am also somewhat puzzled at how well Tennessee has done with an unknown and unproven Derek Dooley as it's new coach. It seems Tennessee is bent on rebuilding their program with a youthful Head Coach. I think Derek Dooley will certainly be less controversal than Lane Kiffin and with the UT Tradition and support, I predict Dooley will have success. Of course teams like Alabama and Florida are just restocking their programs with 4 and 5 star players and these two teams should continue to battle for the SEC Championship for the next few years unless someone else like LSU or Auburn steps up to prevent that. But, I see the SEC getting stronger and stronger with Auburn now rebuilding it's program and LSU continuing to be a force along with Arkansas, Ole Miss, and now Miss State getting stronger in the West. The balance of power has definitely shifted from the SEC East to the SEC West. Florida will continue to dominate the East and only Georgia and maybe Tennessee will be able to challenge them at all and then that will be a futle effort.