2008 Recruiting: Ath Kellen Theriot

via vmedia.rivals.com
Kellen Theriot
Bellaire, Texas
Episcopal High School
6'2" 225#

Uh, that dude is big.  He's also a very good athlete.  In high school, he played quarterback, and his videos show him to be a fiery competitor with great stop-start agility.  He has what they call "fast twitch" muscles, meaning he's not just strong, but he can get going in a hurry.

Honestly, I don't know why this kid is rated as a 3-star player.  He's a a tremendous athlete who clearly has the physicality to play any of a number of positions.  At 225# and with 4.5 speed (if you believe it), and shoulders like that he can be a linebacker, a safety, a tight end, a fullback, an H-back, or possibly even eventually a defensive end.  Not only that, but his academics allowed him to graduate from high school a semester early and enroll in time to participate in Spring Practice, the only 2008 LSU recruit to do so.

Of course, this kid won't play quarterback in college.  In his high school videos, he looks like Tim Tebow did in his videos, except not quite as much like Tebow as Tebow.  Same style, in that he never gave up on a play, was difficult to bring down, and played with reckless abandon.  He just doesn't project to have the ability to bring that to the next level like Tebow did.  

Instead, he's going to take his athleticism to the linebacker spot, where he spent Spring learning the position.  He may not stay there, as LSU may be in need of a blocking fullback behind Quinn Johnson.  

I think Theriot is a solid player.  He's competitive enough to make a name for himself at linebacker, and strong enough to move to fullback if that's where we need him.  I don't know if he's the sort of guy who can end up being a star, but I feel pretty comfortable saying he's going to be a player, probably sooner rather than later.  I would look for him to have a Quinn Johnson-like career or perhaps a Harry Coleman-like career of standing out on special teams for a while and then getting a chance at one position or another to be a key contributor.