Please help me out, i'm a novice at following recruiting. From following the different message boards and radio shows, that we're only having a so-so recruiting class. I know it's early, but how do most of the experts see us winding up. It also seems like Saban, and Meyer are doing real well with early commitments, I guess what I'm asking is, Are we slippng just a bit?
Few things going on: there's a bit of a discrepancy between recruiting service evaluation and LSU staff evaluation. Based on first-hand reports, it's believed that many of the recruiting services will by raising several LSU recruit's ratings. Really NONE of the recruiting services know a region better than a major university knows it's own. Also, there aren't as many nationally coveted recruits in Louisiana this year. OTOH, a state like Alabama has more than usual. So Saban might have a better haul in the end just by sealing Alabama, even if we seal LA.
What you need to understand is that our coaches our better talent evaluators than Rivals scouts. Our coaches are really going to show that this year. All of our 3 star players have GREAT shots at getting another star. Most of them will.
For me this early in the game, you look at who's offering the kid too. When big name programs go after a kid, ie. OSU, OU, FL, etc... you know the kid is probably better than a 3 stars or has a lot of potential.
1. Rankings are overblown because of different class sizes and other factors. 2. A few of our lower ranked guys will move up after the next evaluation. 3. We don't have as many spots, so we have to selective. 4. We recruit different than some schools. The higher ranked ones now, like Texas and Georgia, fill their classes really early. 5. Florida isn't doing that well.
"Down" years for the top programs are cyclical. Every third or fourth year you can expect a slight drop-off due to limited availablity of quality talent and the inability to convince a player he'll see the field due to all the talent in front of him. There is no need to worry. A "down" year for teams like LSU, Texas, USC, etc. is often better than a good year for most schools. Louisiana has always been a top-producer of football talent and that trend doesn't appear to be in jeopardy. Without any serious in-state competition, LSU should continue to have Top 20 ranked recruiting classes, if not Top 5. By the time some of our three-star players see action, they'll be juniors and will have 4-5 star abilities. We tend to have a fair mix of 1,2,3,4, and 5-year players seeing playing action, so one "down" class won't equate to a poor season four year from now.
I'm fine with everyone that we have committed so far and trust that Miles and crew are not going to take commitments this early from guys they are not very high on. The only thing that bothers me at this point is we seem to be settling a little on who were going after for QB.
Honestly, J. Taylor is the only prospect I'm not incredibly happy to have, and he isn't expected to qualify. Other than missing out on some long-shot QB recruits, we're doing great & getting the guys that we want. All of our commits have excelled at camps and look like they can develop into great players. Several of our 3 stars will jump to 4. At worst, we'll finish in the 15-20 range on Rivals. We'll likely finish around 10th.
