The biggest of the recruits still out with LSU as significant interest are: QB Ryan Perrilloux (5) DE DeMarcus Granger (5) WR Patrick Turner (5) WR DeSean Jackson (5) LB Luther Brown (4) LB Jon Demps (4) CB Bryan Evans (4) CB Derek Pegues (4) S Nic Harris (4) S Marvin White (4) ATH RJ Jackson (4) WR DJ Hord (4) WR Slick Shelley (4) OT Michael Oher (4) OT Calvin Wilson (4) DE Matt Lewis (4) DE Ricky Jean-Francois (4) I think our best shots are Perrilloux, Granger, Brown, Pegues, Harris, White, RJ Jackson, Jean-Francois. White is a JC transfer and is waiting for LSU to offer. I think LSU needs desperately to land one of the 2 OTs.
After reading JSracingBBF's posts about Pegues, I'm really stoked to see if he will come to LSU. I saw a couple of these guys at the CaliFlorida bowl Monday and they are standouts: Luther Brown DeSean Jackson Rickey Jean-Francois (was solid, looked rough around the edges) Also, he's not considering LSU, but damn Antone Smith was a stud. He is lighting fast and made one TD run where he bounced off and broke about 8 tackles. It was amazing to see, can't wait to see what he can do at the college level. I know Lucas didn't really impress Saban, but I think he could be a gem sleeper and I'm bummed he didn't want to come here.
Desean Jackson would be awesome, he reminds me so much of Skyler Green, although he may have better straight away speed. Luther Brown was awesome in the CaliFlorida bowl, I hope we can either get him or Demps, but I really doubt we get Demps. I hope that we are able to sign another offensive lineman too, it appears as if we're going to be able to keep Black and Myers, but McNeil and Scott are looking elsewhere now that Saban is gone.
Pretty good article about him in the Jackson paper today. Looks like it's LSU, MSU, and Ole Miss left in the running. http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050107/SPORTS06/501070356/1025/SPORTS
He is from Mississippi. Thats probably the only reason. I am sure he grew up rooting for one of the 2, and is probably getting pressure locally much like the guys from LA get from us.
There are a slew of reasons kids go to smaller program over big ones. It could be cause of the proximity to his family, potentially getting to play immediately, curriculum, life long fan of a certain school, following friends to a specific school, the coach, style of offense or defense that is run....... It's not always cut and dry like we'd like to think. For any of us, it would be a no-brainer, but we're LSU nuts.
He seems to be pretty concerned with getting to the NFL (most players would want to play offense, but he says he wants to play corner so he could get drafted higher) so what sesne would it make to go to Ole Miss or MSU? He'd get much better coaching and would get a lot more exposure here, not to mention he'd win a lot more.
^^^^^ That is assuming he thinks he could earn starting time for LSU. What's better? Being coached & practicing with LSU or being a starter your freshman year for Mississippi St or Ole Miss? He doesn't get coverage on TV or drafted at all if he doesn't see the field. Depth is something very important to consider.
But if he isn't good enough to cut it at LSU then I think NFL scouts will see right through him. But with that said, he has the talent to play pretty quickly here, he could probably compete with Chevis Jackson for the dime corner spot in his first year, and if he doesn't then he could redshirt his freshman year and have a chance to be the nickel corner once Ronnie Prude graduates.
Some players take longer to develope and shine. His talent may not be good enough initially to beat out our starters, but that doesn't mean he can't develope into a star if given the chance. A smaller program would give him his full three or four years to start and develope into a player that scouts want. Also, on a team with many stars, good players are often overshadowed by the mega stars. On a team such as Miss St or Ole Miss, a good/great player has the chance of being the shining star. (ex: Fitzgerald, Ryan Moats, Eli Manning, D. McNabb[Syracuse], Tim Couch) All of those players played for mediocre to bad teams in college and garnered plenty of attention for being the lone shining star of their respective programs. A prime example of a great player playing for a big time program with plenty of star power was Priest Holmes at Texas. He was overshadowed by Ricky Williams and therefor didn't garner much attention in college. I'm sure that had lots to do with where he was drafted and how much he signed for. Had he played for a team like a Miss St. or Ole Miss, he would have been the star of the team and most likely been drafter much higher. I don't think it's always a bad thing to play for a smaller program. JMO
