Recruiting wrap-up

The continued dominance of the Southeastern Conference over the college football landscape extended to another national signing day, with three schools finishing in Rivals’ top five, and five total in the top ten.  It’s a tough world in the SEC, where the cannibalistic nature of schools stealing each other’s recruits can cause quite the emotional outpouring from fan bases, and even players.

However, while ESPN.com’s recruiting service cannot stop salivating over Urban Meyer’s “record-setting” class, which includes 17 of the site’s Top 150 players, Rivals lists the Gators class at a close second, behind USC.  Lane Kiffen closed impressively on NSD, but according to ESPN, it was only enough to finish at #7 in it’s top 25.

How can Florida’s haul be considered head and shoulders above everyone by ESPN, enough to call the difference “staggering”, while at the same time  listed behind that of USC’s on Rivals? And how can Rivals rank the Trojans class at the top ,while ESPN doesn’t even have it in the top five? It’s a curious discrepancy that highlights the inherent flaw in recruiting rankings.  These are completely subjective assessments of how 17 and 18-year old kids will perform at the next level, assessments that even the highly-paid coaches often get wrong.

So Dawg fans, (and Vols fans, and Tigers fans, and all other fans who are upset about falling out of the top five), remember that these recruiting services rarely know what they are talking about, and only time will tell whether you missed out on the next Hershel or the next headache. For every 5-star “blue-chip” recruit who flames out, there’s an unheralded 2 or 3-star waiting in the wings, ready to prove the “experts” wrong.

Two notable unintentional comedy moments from ESNPU’s recruiting special:

• Robert Smith and Tom Luginbill getting sociological on us when trying to explain the SEC’s recent dominance in recruiting. Smith, an Ohio State product, pointed to the failing economies of the rust-belt as a sign that football talent was “reverse-migrating” to the south. I don’t know about you, but I go to ESPNU for all my socioeconomic discourse.
• An unbelievably awkward interview with Florida State signee Bjoern Werner, a defensive-line prospect from Connecticut by way of Germany.  The highlight is at the 3:45 mark of this video, where he attempts to do the Tomahawk Chop, and ends up just creeping everyone out:  

Yezzzzirrrr!

LSU now has an Ego problem

In another signing day shocker, LSU has landed prized DL-recruit JR “Ego” Ferguson out of Hargrave Military Academy.  Ferguson (6’3, 275) chose LSU over a host of schools, which was narrowed down to Miami, Cal and LSU at the last minute.  Most expected him to sign with the ‘Canes, but LSU continues to close strongly in this 2010 class.

LSU’s class coming together

Here’s an up-to-date list on the kids who have signed their letter of intent to LSU:

• Jordan Allen,  DE, West Monroe, LA
• Ken Adams, DE, Copiah-Lincoln JC
• Alfred Blue, RB, Hahnville, LA
• Kadron Boone, WR, Ocala, FL
• JC Copeland, DE, LaGrange, GA
• Travis Dickson, TE, Ocean Springs, MS
• JR “Ego” Ferguson, DL, Hargrave Military Academy
• Jarrett Fobbs, WR/DB, Shreveport, LA
• Cameron Fordham, TE, Duluth, GA
• Sam Gibson, ATH, Prattville, AL
• Jakhari Gore, RB, Miami, FL
• Nick Jacobs, TE, Many, LA
• Zach Lee, QB, McKinney, TX
• Justin Maclin, LB, Memphis, TN
• Tyrann Mathieu, CB, New Orleans, LA
• Luke Muncie, LB, Klein, TX
• Elliot Porter, DT, Marrero, LA
• Eric Reid, S, Geismar, LA
• Tharold Simon, ATH, Eunice, LA
• Ronnie Vinson, DB, New Orleans, LA
• Spencer Ware, RB/ATH, Cincinnati, OH
• Evan Washington, OL, DeSoto, TX
• DJ Welter, LB, Crowley, LA
• Armand Williams, WR, Slidell, LA
• Brad Wing, K/P, Baton Rouge, LA
• Brandon Worle, FB, LaGrange, GA
• James Wright, WR, Belle Chase, LA

Signing Day full of surprises

It’s the first Wednesday in February, which only means one thing if you’re a degenerate college football fan.  It’s time for the nation’s high school seniors to sign their letters of intent and choose where they’ll be playing college ball next autumn.

For the LSU Tigers, it was a day that was not supposed to bring many surprises, with much of the class already filled.  But if we’ve learned one thing about signing day, it’s that the whims of 18-year olds can change at any moment.

LSU has landed two big time signees who were not listed as commits as of yesterday:

Kadron Boone, WR, Trinity Catholic (Ocala, FL) Boone, a 6’1 wide-receiver with good bulk at just under 200 lbs, was originally committed to Texas Tech but reopened his commitment late after coach Mike Leach was dismissed. He signed his letter of intent to play with the Tigers this morning. With his body type and route running ability he could provide a replacement for Brandon LaFell down the road.

JC Copeland, DE, Troup County HS (LaGrange, GA) Copeland was committed to Tennessee as recently as yesterday.  But this morning, in a bit of a surprise, he signed his letter of intent to play with the Tigers.  The 6’2 240 lb. appears un-blockable at times in his film.  He’ll give Les Miles another disruptive force on the defensive line.

There are still dozens of recruits yet to sign their LOI, so stick around for updates throughout the day. Who knows what other surprises signing day has in store….