2008 Recruiting: OL/DL Cordian Hagans

via www.nmnathletics.com.edgesuite.net
Cordian Hagans
Northview High School
Snellville, Georgia
6'5" 290#
Alleged to run a 4.9 second 40

Cordian Hagans is a bit of a mystery.  There is no film of him, and very little printed.  There are rumors that he is a phenomenal athlete, but it's hard to verify them.  The rumors are that he can run a 4.9 second 40 yard dash, which is outstanding for someone pushing 300 pounds.  He has variously been listed as a defensive tackle, a defensive end, an offensive tackle, and an offensive guard.  He only played two years of high school football.  Not that much is known about him.  It hardly even seems fair to rate him.

If you're looking for a reason not to like Hagans, this is it:  he wasn't offered a scholarship by either Georgia or Georgia Tech, his primary home-state schools.  That could mean something, or it could mean very little.  Georgia uses smaller defensive ends and only recruited on defensive tackle last year.  Perhaps their depth issues aren't that severe.  Perhaps they didn't like him as much as we did.   Who's to say?

I know one thing, Auburn has done quite well taking a lot of kids out of Georgia and Louisiana that UGA and LSU didn't really want.  It seems to work out for them.

But make no mistake, we were on this kid early.  Les Miles and the rest of the coaching staff saw him in camp and liked what he showed.  Granted, 2008 was not a great year for defensive linemen in the state of Louisiana, and we needed to look far afield, when we saw Cordian Hagans, we jumped on him.  That says something.  He committed in July and never looked back despite being recruited by the likes of Clemson, Auburn, Boston College, South Carolina, and others.

Maybe Hagans is a sleeper.  Maybe Hagans was a secret.  One thing is for sure, his high school didn't exactly do a lot to market him, not making a single video to distribute to the services.  Heck, they barely even got him on the football field.

Early reports on Hagans in 7-on-7 drills are that he is starting his career at defensive line, and appears to be doing well there.  He is a guy who will get a chance to sit and learn the game given the tremendous depth we have at all of the defensive line positions.  Given his lack of experience, it is probably best for him if he does.  He can develop into either a power defensive end or a quick defensive tackle, or perhaps an offensive guard.  

I won't pretend to know, and I don't feel comfortable assigning him to a category at this time.  There's just too little reliable information.  He could come out smokin' and win a job in the 2-deep right out of the gate for all I know.