LSU Football: Which Players Could Sneak into the First Round of the NFL Draft

Without Patrick Peterson, some people thought that LSU would have a down year.

Eight wins later over three currently ranked teams and no one is thinking that now. What people are wondering, though, is where all of the star talent is?

Morris Claiborne has become somewhat of an obsession for NFL draft experts and Tyrann Mathieu has become a household name because of his knack for getting the football.

But there are plenty of other players with first round draft potential on this team, they just won’t be ready until at least 2013.

On offense, the two main guys are offensive tackle Alex Hurst and wide receiver Rueben Randle.

Hurst is an absolutely monstrous prospect at 6’ 6” 340 lbs and has won multiple effort awards from the LSU coaches. Expect his stock to rapidly improve in the next year the more LSU runs the ball.

Randle is another big prospect at 6’ 4” 205 lbs and is the next great receiver to come out of LSU. The former quarterback has turned the heads of many draft experts and with so much NFL talent in this year’s group of receivers, Randle could get into the first round if he stays for another year, which he should.

But defense is where LSU really shines and it starts on the defensive line with Sam Montgomery and Barkevious Mingo. Both of these sophomores have four sacks already on the season.

Their numbers only figure to improve because opposing lines can’t double team both players, so they will have to pick their poison.

Secondary is where things really get interesting with Mathieu, Tharold Simon, Eric Reid and Craig Loston.

Based on his performance the past two years and his explosiveness as a return man, Mathieu should be one of the top cornerbacks in the 2013 draft.

The other players are still developing, but as the Honey Badger showed, just because they aren’t known now doesn’t mean they won’t be soon.

With this much NFL talent, no wonder LSU is ranked the best team in the country.