Word is Chris Mitchell liked his official visit to Miami. Like it a whole lot actually... Now, with the word on the street being Miles wanted to sign 3 WR's (not sure if it was ever stated that he would take 4--guess that all depended on if we were to lose a player that's currently committed, to another school on signing day...) and we have 3 commitments from WR's (Crawford, Dixon and Jared Mitchell), I'm wondering if Chris Mitchell's scholarship to LSU! is in jepordy? Who knows? Perhaps there is word that Crawford will actually qualify? I also am becoming more confident with the Georgia linebackers keeping their commitments and signing with LSU, so that might make the possibility of additional scholarships false.... You hear it all the time about players waiting too long and being told close to signing day that the program that thought they'd be going to simply just doesn't have the room any longer. This appears, at least to me at this point, that that may be the case with Chris Mitchell. Currently, Skyler Green is the only WR we're losing that had logged some serious playing time this past season and including Bennie, we only lost 2 WR's from last year's team that got playing time. I believe that our depth chart at WR for Spring practice will be: Wide Receiver: Dwayne Bowe, Sr. Early Doucet, Jr. Wide Receiver: Craig Davis, Sr. Xavier Carter, Jr. Brandon LaFell, RS-FR I believe Early steps into Skyler's vacated position as solid #3 receiver. I believe Carter gets more playing time as well and LaFell appears to be on track for nothing less than the playing time Bennie Brazell had for us last year (but if he shows to be better at route running and holding on to balls than Carter, look for their roles to flip-flop and LaFell assumes the #4 position). Come the fall, I believe either Jared Mitchell or Ricky Dixon (but not both) have a chance to earn early playing time. With Bowe, Davis, Doucet, Carter and LaFell all available, it just appears that we have too much depth for more than one of our 3 current incoming recruits to gather any significant time--in fact, with Davis and Bowe being Sr's, and Doucet and Carter being Jr's, it might be in our best interest to redshirt 2 of the incoming freshman (again, if not 3) and spread out our depth for '07 and beyond. From what I just read about Chris Mitchell's visit to Miami, I get the impression that if this were strictly a football decision, he would be a 'Cane... I just feel that this is more than a football decision, and playing in front of family is something that is a big issue and that is currently LSU's only shot, IMO. Guess we'll see tomorrow when he's scheduled to make his announcement.
Well I hope we still land Chris Mitchell. Crawford & Dixon are still on the fringe of qualifying as far as I can tell, and Crawford has recently put some interest into Arkansas. Plus there's the chance that Jared Mitchell will go the pro baseball route. So as of right now, we don't have a single guaranteed WR that will be on campus next year. It will really depend on how our receivers progress from last season, but it's very doubtful any more than 1 of our signees would not redshirt. If the coaches feel comfortable with getting the 3 guys we have & not saving a scholarship for Chris, then I understand. They know a lot more about their chances of getting the 3 guys on campus next year, so they may feel very confident & don't want to sign 4 WRs in this class.
As long as Jared Mitchell is on campus I'll be happy. Mitchell and LaFell are both going to be stars at LSU, Dixon looks like he is going to qualify so he is definetely going to be an asset, especially going over the middle and making tough catches. Crawford qualifying and Mitchell commiting would just be an added bonus. Plus there are a few guys in-state who will be recruited by us next year.
I understand that Chris Mitchell had been trying for some time to find an excuse for not signing with LSU. If true, I don't know why he feels the need to find an excuse. He does not need one; he can sign with anyone he wants. But like I said, I am not sure if this is true.
More like his coach is trying to find a way to have him not sign with LSU? Chris Mitchell has said a few times that he would like to stay close to home.
