Only guys that actually enrolled, listed below. Which class do you think is best, by production of total # of impact players & draft picks. 2009: #2 Team rank, 3.84 star avg Carneal Ainsworth Dominique Allen Lamin Barrow Michael Brockers Drayton Calhoun Morris Claiborne Chris Davenport Josh Downs Chris Faulk Michael Ford Chris Garrett Derek Helton Akiem Hicks Josh Johns Tahj Jones Bennie Logan Craig Loston Stavion Lowe Barkevious Mingo Kevin Minter Sam Montgomery Rueben Randle Russell Shepard Josh Williford Rockey Duplessis 2008: #11 Team rank, 3.58 star avg Chancey Aghayere Ryan Baker Matt Branch Derrick Bryant Chase Clement Lavar Edwards Tyler Edwards Cordian Hagans Karnell Hatcher Alex Hurst Jordan Jefferson Patrick Johnson P.J. Lonergan Tim Molton Thomas Parsons Deangelo Peterson Kyle Prater Greg Shaw Clay Spencer Ryan St. Julien Brandon Taylor Jhyryn Taylor Kellen Theriot Chris Tolliver 2007: #3 Team rank, 3.88 star avg Kentravis Aubrey Joseph Barksdale Will Blackwell Ron Brooks Demetrius Byrd Shomari Clemons Jordon Corbin Sidell Corley Andrew Crutchfield Josh Dworaczyk Stefoin Francois T-Bob Hebert Josh Jasper Chad Jones Jarvis Jones Phelon Jones Mitch Joseph Jarrett Lee Ernest McCoy Drake Nevis Stevan Ridley Alex Russian Terrance Toliver John Williams 2006: #7 Team rank, 3.64 star avg Matt Allen Jacob Cutrera Richard Dickson Ricky Dixon Jai Eugene Troy Giddens Lazarius Levingston J.D. Lott Danny McCray Chris Mitchell Jared Mitchell Richard Murphy Jacob O'Hair Derrick Odom Perry Riley Charles Scott Kelvin Sheppard Steven Singleton Mark Snyder Jason Teague Zhamal Thomas Keiland Williams Al Woods 2005: #22 Team rank, 3.69 star avg Kyle Anderson Darry Beckwith Ciron Black Chris Hawkins Lyle Hitt Trindon Holliday R.J. Jackson Ricky Jean-Francois Al Jones Steven Korte Brandon LaFell Ryan Perrilloux Antonio Robinson
The 06 class, so far, seems to have the most impact but its impossible to tell anything about the 09 class and almost impossible to judge the 08 class. The 09 class looks to have the most potential impact players but that remains to be seen.
You know there is one thing Miles cannot use as an excuse. This team lacks talent. Man that is a stacked group. Yes I know many of the other SEC teams have talent but that is why games like LSU vs Bama happens like last year. You win some you lose some but you AlWAYS compete. That is why I think games like UF, UGA and heck even Troy was frustrating for some of us last year. With this kind of talent, LSU should never be blown out. Nor shoudl LSU blow out the premier teams (UF, Bama, UGA, etc). Yes I am aware LSU beat Troy, but seriously.....
Here's my opinion on the classes as far as contributors & draft picks. I think this '09 class has the most high draft pick potential guys. 2009: Will likely produce 4 starters/big contributors next year with possibly 14 more to come, and maybe 7 of which look to be high draft picks. 2008: Has produced 2 starters/big contributors thus far (8%) with possibly 11 more to come, and maybe 4 of which look to be high draft picks. 2007: Has produced 8 starters/big contributors thus far (33%) with possibly 9 more to come, and 4 of which look to be high draft picks. 2006: Has produced 11 starters/big contributors thus far (48%) with possibly 1 more to come, and 3 of which look to be high draft picks. 2005: Has produced 8 starters/big contributors thus far (62%). 3 of which look to be high draft picks.
2007 was LSU's highest average star ranking - slightly higher than '09s. This is the year we set the record for most 4 stars with a pretty talented bunch. Several stars have already started to emerge from that class. In particular, I think we did a tremendous job on the OL (2 were DL when recruited), although it is unfortunate 2 very talented LT's from that class are no longer with us. The "athletes" we recruited in that class haven't really panned out, with John Williams & Ron Brooks. 2008 was LSU's lowest average star ranking, but I see a lot of talent in that class. We've already gotten some good production out of the DBs, and I expect some talented WRs to emerge from that class as well. We took a good bit of linemen in that class, and I haven't heard how any of them are coming along. I definitely see some guys who will end up shining there for us though. 2006 looks like Miles' worst class, as only Richard Dickson & Charles Scott have really shined for us. The class had a lot of solid guys, but no real big stars. The three 4 star WRs that we signed along with almost all of the linemen have been a bit of a dissapointment. Out of the three RBs (two 4 stars & one 5 star) - only Scott has really developed. Our LB recruiting in that class was good, but not great - same with DB's. The '05 class has made the most impact thus far, which isn't surprising since they are the oldest. If Ryan Perrilloux hadn't flaked out, that would be a very impressive class for its small size.
