LSU Recruiting: Does The 2011 Recruiting Class Address Position Needs?
Since coming to LSU in 2005, coach Les Miles has consistently brought in a top 10 ranked recruiting classes to the LSU program.
So far this year, LSU is currently ranked as the # 4 recruiting class in college football by The Rivals.com recruiting service. Rivals is consistently regarded as the most accurate recruiting service on the Internet.
This year's very talented class is also very special because of the large number of highly talented players from the State of Louisiana that have decided to stay home and play for The LSU Fightn Tigers.
Out of the 21 commitments that LSU has, 15 are from the state of Louisiana and three of those in state players are rated as Five Star recruits by Rivals.
Of course the Tigers are not finished yet as they are expecting to get commitments from at least two and maybe three more players before or by signing day on the February 2nd.
Even in the realm of the recruiting numbers, it is still most important that a team fill it's positions of need with quality players, and it appears that LSU has done a very good job of filling their needs by position.
Let's take a look at how these new talented players will fill LSU's position needs for starters and dept as well.
Quarterback Position
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Anyone that followed the LSU Tiger Football team in 2010 could easily see that the Quarterback position is the most glaring need the Tigers have to fill if they expect to reach this team's potential and compete for a Conference and National Title.
For the last two years, Jordan Jefferson has been the starting quarterback for LSU and he has struggled mightily to give LSU any kind passing game at all and he even seemed to be progressing in reverse most of the year.
To Jordan Jefferson's credit though, he played particularly well in the Alabama game and led LSU to one of it's most rewarding and satisfying victories of the year. Additionally, his performance was equally as good in The Cotton Bowl game against Texas A&M.
Despite early fan unrest and dissatisfaction early in the season, Coach Les Miles has been doing the best he could under the circumstances, and now he has been rewarded for his patience with the signing of former Georgia quarterback Zach Mettenberger.
While playing for Butler Junior College in 2010, Zach Mettenberger was rated as the # 2 rated JUCO quarterback in the nation.
The signing of Mettenberger brought a sigh of relief to the Tiger faithful that could be heard all across the Tiger Nation.
An additional shot in the arm for LSU is also the commitment they have from Alabama quarterback Stephen Rivers of Athens Alabama. Stephen is the younger brother of San Diego Chargers quarterback Phillip Rivers.
So, the signing of these two very fine quarterback prospects appear to have filled the Tiger's current quarterback needs and for the next 3 to 4 years as well.
Running Back Position:
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One of the strongest positions on the this year's LSU football team is the running back position.
With the performance of ALL SEC running back Steven Ridley, LSU had one of their most productive years as a running offense.
But, now that Steven Ridley has decided to forego his senior year and enter the NFL draft, the LSU running back position will be filled by some very young and talented running backs.
The future LSU running game will now be in the capable hands of Sophomore to be Michael Ford, and this year's Freshman Sensation Spencer Ware, along with Alfred Blue will offer some quality support.
There has been talk of moving Blue to another position, but it has not happened yet.
With the signing and the early Spring enrollment of Kenny Hilliard from Patterson High School, the Tigers look to be in very good shape in the running back position.
The Tigers do have another commitment from Jeremy Hill of Redemptorist High in Baton Rouge, but the impending criminal charges against him may cause the Tigers to rescind their scholarship offer.
With the enrollment of Kenny Hillard for the Spring Practice, I expect to see some very hot competition for playing time at the running back position.
Miles will give them all a chance to play and with Hilliard's bruising style of running North and South, I look for him to see lots of early playing time.
All in all even though LSU did not sign too many running backs this year, they appear to be young and talented and LSU should be in very good in this position for the next 3 years at least.
Offensive Line
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The 2010 Tigers were led by a very young and talented offensive line that was able to open some very nice holes for Steven Ridley and others to run through.
The line will only lose one starter in Joseph Barksdale, and they will be a big hole to fill, but fortunately LSU has addressed that need very well.
But, Coach Miles is already talking about moving Alex Hurst into the vacancy left by Barksdale.
This years recruiting class will include four quality and highly rated offensive linemen with one being the Tigers Five Star All American La El Collins of Redemptorist High School in Baton Rouge.
Most feel that Collins will challenge for a starting position this year or he will be a quality back up at the very least.
Also, LSU will have Trai Turner and Corey White who are both four star recruits plus 6' 7" 305 behemoth lineman Jonah Austin as added strength for this year's recruits.
I feel this may be the position where the LSU Tigers made the most progress in addressing their position needs for the foreseeable future.
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Defensive Lineman
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In the defensive line the Tigers were very speedy and talented, but they did seem the need for more quality depth in this position.
In the early part of the year, one of the Tigers most impressive Defensive Ends, Sam Montgomery went down with a major knee injury that sidelined him for the year.
So, it is always very necessary to have quality back ups to fill when when injuries occur.
Though the Tigers have Five Star Anthony Johnson already enrolled in school and ready for Spring, they are still waiting on two and maybe three highly rated defensive linemen to commit.
The Tigers are still in the running for Tim Jernigan of Florida, Jamuira Rasco of Shreveport, and either Mickey Johnson from Covington, or Javeon Clowney (doubtful) of South Carolina.
The Tigers are getting in on Johnson sort of late , but they are making a very hard push now, he still has Tennessee on his mind.
Hopefully Johnson will chose the Tigers as he could really be a big part of the future Defensive Line at LSU.
Should the Tigers get two out of the three they are after, I think the Tigers would have done and excellent job in addressing the position of defensive lineman.
Linebacker
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Through the years, LSU has always products very tough and hard nosed linebackers. But, this year the Tigers are losing one of their most valuable linebackers in Kelvin Sheppard.
Sheppard has not only been just a good linebacker, but he is like the quarterback on the team for Coach John Chavis.
Though the Tigers have a good returning nucleus of Line Backers, they are not overly deep in this position and they really did not help themselves very much in this year's recruiting class.
In fact, LSU only has one commitment from a Line Backer in Trevon Randle of Texas.
In this year's 2011 recruiting class, it is my opinion that the Tigers have failed to recruit enough quantity for the all important linebacker position.
Even last year the LSU staff did not recuit enough linebackers, so this is becoming an area of concern because of the lack of depth at this position.
Next year I expect to see LSU signing several good linebackers to help rebuild the depth so greatly needed for this position.
Defensive Backs
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LSU defensive coordinator, John Chavis has a very strong returning defensive backfield. Although they are still very young, they have shown themselves to be very capable.
All American Patrick Peterson has brought great distinction to the LSU corner back position, and his loss will present a big challenge for Coach Chavis to replace him.
But, of all of the position that LSU has to fill, the defensive back position is one of their strongest position on the entire team.
With returners like Mo Claiborne, Tharold Simon, Eric Reid ,and All SEC Freshman Tyrann Mathieu the Tigers are very capable and talented in this position.
In this year's recruiting class, LSU has signed four more quality defensive backs led by Four (4) star Jalen Colins of Olive Branch Mississippi.
Collins is a major recruit for LSU and he looks to be in the mold of a young Patrick Peterson, though somewhat lighter.
In addition to Collins, LSU also dipped into Texas for four star defensive back David Jenkins, and Micha Eugene from Lafayette, and finally Roland Martin from White Castle to complete the defensive backs.
All in all the position of defensive back is in very good shape now, and I think Coach Miles and his staff have certainly added to the talent of an already great position
Wide Receiver
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During Jim Bo Fisher's time at LSU as the offensive coordinator, LSU displayed some very talented wide receivers, and the Tigers were known to stretch the field against their competition.
Even in the first year of Gary Crowton with Matt Flynn as the quarterback, the Tigers continued to display NFL draft choices like Early Doucet, Dewayne Bowe, Craig Davis, and Brandon Lafell.
Even though the Tigers still have great receivers like Ruben Randle, and several red shirt freshman like Kadron Boone they have simply not had the quarterback play that was sufficient to get the ball to the wide receivers.
But with the hiring of Steve Kragthorpe as the new offensive coordinator and the signing of former Georgia quarterback Zach Mettenberger , Coach Miles says he expects a balanced attack and he plans to throw almost 50% of the time.
LSU has commitments from five star Jarvis Landry, four star Odell Beckham, and three star Alonzo Lewis this year and these guys have solidified the wide receiver position for many years to come.
Landry was the MVP of his team in the Under Armorr football game recently, and he is turning out to be an outstanding recruit and many expect him to even challenge for a starting role next year.
So, coach Miles and his staff has done an excellent job in recruiting to strengthen the position of wide receiver for the near future.
Special Teams
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The hiring of Coach Joe Robinson as the special teams coach has done great things for the LSU team.
Since coach Robinson has come in, LSU is ranked highly in special teams play whenever they are compared.
The outstanding run backs by Patrick Peterson have certainly brought attention to LSU for his play. But, now that Peterson has moved on to the NFL, the LSU coaches will have to find another to look to.
There will be many candidates for the punt and kick off return jobs.
Even though LSU has many speedy guys to run back kickoffs and punts, they have still improved this position for many years to come.
In the 2011 class LSU will have Terrance Magee, and Paul Turner recruited as Athletes, which surely makes them possible candidates for the jobs.
The job of punt returner and kick off returner will go to any number of players, but the title Athlete usually means speed and ball handling, so the Athlete position will make them a candidate.
Since the special teams provide a place to start earning your way and showing the coaches what you can do, most of these guys will be given a good look .
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