Future talent needs for this foot ball team??

I have seen several post where members are saying we "need" D-linemen or Linebackers or Cornerbacks. When I look at our roster and the past recruiting classes I don't see these glaring needs.

We have a stock pile of young defensive players, 8 fr/so D-linemen that all were highly touted players plus we got the #5 DE this year. At linebacker we have some very good young players ready to step in and a couple of the best cb recruits in the nation the past couple of years.

I would like to stock pile talent just like anyone else but the sky ain't falling if we don't land a top 5 recruiting class this year. Next year we may very well have the #1 class and all the boo hooing will be for nothing.

Maybe some of you that are in real close know that some of these guys are bust, I haven't heard it. I thought we had a pretty solid team with SR leadership and lots of youth.

 

Every SEC team has decent starters. What separates us is depth, and we will continue to add to it.

 

It seems that you can never have enough offensive linemen. I think that is one area over the years where some of the more highly touted guys haven't panned out. Now I know some of that has been due to injuries and the like, but it is always important to find guys that that can play along the O-line at any position.

 

We could use a DT or two. We really need LBs this year, so lets hope the ones we have recruited will develope quickly. We have been recruiting oline a lot better since Miles has been here, getting 6 in each of the last two classes.

 

I think we need more DLs in this class. As of right now, I think we only have 2 DLs committed, one a DT and the other a DE. I'd like to get one more of each.

 

We are fine at d-line. Favorite and Alexander are juniors, then we have Al Woods, Tremaine Johnson, Ricky Jean-Francois, Rahim Alem, Pep Livingston, Will Blackwell, Drake Nevis, Kentravis Aubrey, and I think Tyson Jackson will end up staying. Plus we got Aghayere. D-Line is the least of our concerns imo, ton of depth and talent.

I think on defense LB is where we could use a few more players. If Beckwith leaves, we have Sheppard, Cutrera, Riley and Odom. Odom seems to get in trouble all the time. So depth is a concern. But we've recruited a few solid LB's this year in Baker and Prater.

I think overall we're fine with future talent... There are enough young guys at just about every position for depth, and we have a decent recruiting class coming in. Next year's recruiting class may very well end up as the best of all time for us, so LSU is set for a long time.

 

I think Beckwith stays. We still have Cutrera, Riley, Sheppard and maybe Odom. I think Clemons will be a LB and what about the Foyil kid?

 

The thing about linebackers is that you can usually convert someone to that position if you need to. You can convert an undersized defensive end to a big linebacker a lot of times. You can almost always convert a safety to linebacker. We have players on the roster who can convert to linebacker like Shomari Clemons, Chad Jones, Harry Coleman, and Danny McCray is we need them. I just don't think the linebacker position is in need of IMMEDIATE help.

You usually can't convert someone TO defensive line, except maybe a tight end. I suppose it's possible, but you rarely hear of it. You usually hear of defensive linemen converting to offensive line or linebacker, not the other way around.

Also, keep in mind, we don't recruit for next year. We recruit with depth needs 2 years out in mind. Our needs on the defensive line will be great at that time. We will have lost all of our current starters, Charles Alexander, and Tremaine Johnson. They'd be replaced by the ones we got last year and Al Woods would still be there, but the need is still great.

 

In 2003, we converted Eric Alexander from safety to linebacker, and it was arguably a National Championship-winning move. He also has a job in the NFL at that position. I just don't buy that it's that big of a deal. Linebackers come in a wide variety of body types, from big and thick to small and quick. Their jobs are mostly to just find the ball and go after it, with the occasional job of covering a running back or tight end (which a converted safety is ideal for, btw). It helps to have size, but an undersized LB often does just fine. Look at Highsmith, for example, or any of a number of Auburn linebackers past and present. And bringing safety speed to the linebacker corps is often a huge advantage.