The Miles Era: No. 1 Signees Shea Dixon - 21 minutes ago The Les Miles era has brought some memorable recruiting victories to the LSU program, from landing East St. John standout Ryan Perrilloux in his first class to another boom out of New Orleans with a signature from five-star running back Leonard Fournette last February. Patrick Peterson gave Miles one of many CB headliners to an LSU signee class But from the time Miles signed on with the Tigers and started recruiting in purple-and-gold on Jan. 2, 2005, how have the No. 1 signees in each class panned out for the program? From Perrilloux up to last week's signed scholarship papers from five-star cornerback Kevin Toliver II, we take a look back at the career of every Tiger who signed on with LSU that was ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the signing class. Note: the following are the 247Composite rankings, which factors rankings and ratings from all the major recruiting media networks equally. 2005 Ryan Perrilloux … 5-star, No. 1 dual-threat QB, No. 6 overall Miles’ first big-time signee was Perrilloux, and while he only lasted three years and two starts for the Tigers before he was booted from the program, he did step in for an injured Matt Flynn and deliver an MVP performance in the SEC Championship to push LSU past Tennessee and into the National Championship. That day in Atlanta, Perrilloux was 20-for-30 passing for 243 yards and a touchdown. He finished his career 52-of-79 passing for 704 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions. He also rushed for 207 yards and two touchdowns as a sophomore. 2006 Al Woods … 5-star, No. 1 DT, No. 12 overall Russell Shepard's LSU career saw him test out three different positions Woods came out of high school as the top-ranked defensive tackle in the country, but he only logged 16 starts during his career at LSU - with 13 of those coming in his senior season. While he might not have panned out as quickly as most hoped, Woods did deliver a solid sophomore season in 2007, playing a backup role in 12 of LSU’s 14 games - including the National Championship win - and finishing the year with 22 tackles and an SEC-best three fumble recoveries. 2007 Terrence Toliver … 5-star, No. 1 WR, No. 8 overall Toliver broke onto the scene in 2007 by landing on the SEC All-Freshman Team, but his career was ultimately hampered by a quarterback shuffle - with Toliver catching balls from three different starters during his run with the Tigers: Andrew Hatch, Jarrett Lee and Jordan Jefferson. Still, Toliver put up respectable numbers given the circumstances, catching 22 passes as a sophomore, 53 passes as a junior and 41 passes as a senior. 2008 Patrick Peterson … 5-star, No. 1 CB, No. 6 overall It’s safe to say that Peterson - a future NFL Pro Bowl cornerback - was the first No. 1 signee in LSU’s class to pan out from start to finish in the Miles era. He played in all 13 of LSU’s games as a freshman, starting the final four games of the year - and then the rest in his three-year career. Peterson scored touchdowns three different ways as a Tiger: punt return, pick-six and a return of a blocked field goal. He won the Thorpe Award, the Bednarik Award and was a First-Team All-American. 2009 Russell Shepard … 5-star, No. 1 dual-threat QB, No. 3 overall After Miles landed a pair of No. 6 prospects (Perrilloux, Peterson) in the overall rankings, 2009 brought the Mad Hatter his highest-ranked signee ever. Shepard left high school as the No. 3 prospect in the country, and his combination of talent and recruiting efforts with the 2009 class made him one of the most talked about recruits in the country. His career in Baton Rouge has been well-chronicled, with Shepard jumping from quarterback to running back to wide receiver. He finished his four years with 14 starts in 49 games played, and totaled 733 rushing yards and 565 receiving yards across that span. He scored 10 touchdowns as a Tiger, then moved on to an NFL career where he just wrapped up his second season with the Tampa Bay Bucs as a backup wide receiver and starter on special teams. 2010 Eric Reid … 4-star, No. 6 S, No. 58 overall While Reid panned out to be a First-Team All-American in college and a first-round draft pick in the NFL, the future Pro Bowl safety was actually the first four-star prospect who served as the top-ranked player in a Miles signing class in Baton Rouge. Of course, Reid was still pegged as a Top 100 prospect and No. 6 safety in the country, and he certainly lived up to that billing in college. Reid only spent three years on campus, starting in 29 games and recording 194 career tackles. 2011 La’El Collins … 5-star, No. 2 OT, No. 3 overall Collins tied with Shepard as the highest-rated signee in the Miles era, leaving high school as the No. 3 overall prospect in the country. And a five-star, he was… The Baton Rouge native became one of the most productive offensive lineman in school history, starting three seasons up front, highlighted by the decision to return for his senior season, where he started all 13 games at left tackle and took home the Jacobs Blocking Trophy, awarded annually to the top offensive lineman in the SEC as voted on by the league’s coaches. He heads into the NFL Draft as a potential first-round selection. 2012 Kwon Alexander … 4-star, No. 7 OLB, No. 87 overall Alexander worked his way into the starting lineup as a true freshman, starting two games before suffering a season-ending injury. He bounced back to land nine starts as a sophomore, finishing fourth on the team in tackles with 65. Then in his junior year this past season, Alexander led the linebackers with 12 starts in the 12 games he appeared in, leading the team in tackles (90) on his way to All-SEC honors. Alexander’s presence helped pace the Tigers to the No. 1 overall defense in the conference. He was one of three underclassmen from LSU who decided to enter this year's NFL Draft. 2013 Tre’Davious White … 4-star, No. 8 CB, No. 55 overall White’s impact came as quickly as any top-ranked signee of the Miles era. He started in 11 games as a true freshman at cornerback in 2013, earning freshman All-SEC honors. He then started in all 13 games this past season, finishing with 33 tackles, two interceptions and eight pass deflections. White heads into his junior season as the No. 1 cornerback on the roster, once again. 2014 Leonard Fournette … 5-star, No. 1 RB, No. 1 overall Fournette officially became the highest-ranked signee Miles has ever brought into Baton Rouge when he signed with the Tigers last February. Of course, fans are familiar with the impact the No. 1 overall prospect in the country has made so far. He finished his freshman season with a team-best 1,049 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns, breaking the school record for most rushing yards by an LSU freshman. He heads into the offseason as one of the most talked about young players in all of college football. 2015 Kevin Toliver II … 5-star, No. 2 CB, No. 8 overall Toliver signed with the Tigers just a week ago, but he’s been enrolled since January, and he’s now set to begin workouts with the team when spring practice rolls around in early March. Toliver follows top-ranked cornerback signees like Peterson and White, helping further LSU’s claim to “DBU”, Toliver will get a head start on his fellow cornerback signees in the 2015 class with the decision to enroll early, and it appears sophomore Edward Paris is Toliver's biggest competition for the starting spot opposite White.
