Boutte is a 6'5, 305-pound OL commit from New Iberia, LA. His highlight tape is rather comical, if for no other reason, he towers over his own teammates. It appears as if he's not fully getting into his stance, but he's just that large compared to them. Also, I'm unsure of whether or not he's related to former LSU DT Marc Boutte.

Shortly after committing, Barton Simmons tweeted:

Josh Boutte commits to LSU. I was just watching his film today. Really impressed. He'll be highly rated when we updated our rankings this wk.

That's a nice piece of praise from a national recruiting analyst.

There's typically two types of OL who excel at the next two levels: mean, nasty maulers and pure technicians. Obviously, some combo of both is what makes the elite guys like Jake Long, etc.

The first thing that sticks out to me on Boutte's tape is that he is one bad sumbitch and he wants you to know it. I LOVE OL who continue their blocks until their guy is on the ground. To me, that shows the tenacity and toughness required to be a superb linemen. I watch the tape of Vadal Alexander in awe, because he enjoys punishing his targets. In Boutte, I see the same. At 6'5, 305, he's got a nice frame without all the excess chubbiness. Obviously, almost every OL's body needs to be re-worked when they get to the next level, but Boutte seems to have a nice, naturally thick build without being tubby.

Beyond Boutte's aggressiveness, the way he fires out of his stance stands out to me. As a former (and terrible) OL, one thing our coach constantly reiterated was exploding out of your stance. Our center in HS was about 160 pounds, but I saw him absolutely melt guys weighing 270-280 pounds because he was not only tough, he fired out of his stance and got leverage. Those are two of the most important aspects in line play.

From the tape, Boutte will still need to work on coming out of his stance too high (a common problem for taller linemen), but that's a technical issue the coaches can work through.

The other noticeable point is that he really moves well. He pulls a good deal, and he looks really natural getting out in front of the play, locating his target and engaging them. Boutte moves well, and he doesn't labor.

Overall, I'm really impressed. Boutte is probably the top lineman in the state, and while he may not be quite to the level of a prospect of La'El Collins stature, he's only a step behind IMO. He likely projects to guard, but I could see him playing at RT, or even C in a pinch.

Here's a good, free read on Boutte and his commitment.

NSD is just days removed and the recruiting circus is jump started yet again. The recruiting grind is arguably the most arduous aspect to coaching at any level. It's also, in my opinion, the most important part to building an excellent program.

LSU picked up three commitments at their Junior Day this weekend. There's not a wealth of information about the three available just yet, but after the jump I'll talk about them and a few other LSU recruiting targets.

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If you haven't already, I highly recommend you listen to this interview with LSU Recruiting Coordinator and Running Backs coach, Frank Wilson. Wilson does an excellent job breaking down how you build recruiting classes, while also addressing "recruiting rankings" and how coaches perceptions are often very different than what recruiting rankings say. He addresses what I consider to be a major weakness for all of the major recruiting networks, and that is the lack of attention given to the state of Louisiana and how they have a guy stationed in Oklahoma who is the "Louisiana" scout, but he's never been to Baldwin or Thibodaux and seen the kid actually play. I think it's a great point that has a lot of truth to it. Most of the national recruiting guys get to Louisiana a couple times of year (if even that), and most are going off what they hear others say. Not always the best means of evaluation.

That being said, we can't talk about the 2012 recruiting class without acknowledging the ones we missed. Gunner Kiel and Torshiro Davis were one-time commits that switched. Mario Edwards and Landon Collins were highly coveted targets that we simply whiffed on. Add any two of those four, and this is a top 5ish class nationally. Subtract all four, and you have national writers calling our class a "disappointment." To me, such reactions are puffed-up poppycock. Is it really that disappointing to finish with an average of 11.25 across the four major recruiting services? If that's failure, give me two spoonfuls. Arkansas fans would salivate over a class this good (in fact, when I expressed even a modicum of disappointment to one of my good Hog friends, his immediate reaction was, "Shoot, I wish we had half that many four stars." Perspective.).

That being said, I don't find it useful to stick your head in the sand and feel the need to act like everything LSU does is always great. In some ways, this class is a let down. But a let down is different than a failure. After the jump I'll delve into the class.

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WARNING: For the next 24 hours, you may see printed words that turn out to be completely false. This is Signing Day. It happens. Hang tight and we'll all get through this together.

"A Chicken in every Pot and 5-star recruits in every Class!"

Ready to watch high school seniors embarrass themselves on national tv while helping that small mom-and-pop sporting goods store in their hometown make the hat sales quota for the month? It's signing day and ATVS is ready to party.

But not literally. We're all working just like most of you. We'll do our very best to keep the tally board up to date and keep an eye out for late breaking switches and shenanigans.

ESPNU and the CBS Sports Net are both doing day long coverage, ESPNU will also be available online through the ESPN3.com service, and 104.5fm in Baton Rouge with be broadcasting for most of the day live from the Bayou Bash.

Unlike year's past, we don't have anyone on the riverboat to take in the scene, but if you're going to the Bayou Bash, you can send your photos to us on twitter @valleyshook.

We'll do our best to keep this page updated as official NLIs come in and we'll have the annual jumbo-sized highlight videos post later this evening.

Nationally, there are a few stories to keep in mind. This is the first year the multi-year scholarships can be offered thanks to a change in NCAA rules and most of the B1G will be offering them. Tomorrow will also see the first ever electronic signature of a NLI by a D-2 Women's soccer player as the NCAA takes it's first steps towards ridding the world of the fax machine.

Here is the list

Board Updates

7:34am CST: Corrected that Jeremy Hill and Lamar Louis are Spring Enrollees

7:43, LSU confirms Jalen Mills

7:59, LSU confirms Jeremy Liggins and Trey Granier

8:18, LSU confirms Deion Jones

8:37, LSU confirms Corey Thompson

8:41, LSU confirms Derrick Raymond

8:49, LSU confirms Dillion Gordon

9:22, LSU confirms Jerald Hawkins and Danielle Hunter

9:31, LSU confirms Dwayne Thomas

10:20, LSU confirms Kwon Alexander and his bowtie

10:25, LSU confirms Lorenzo Phillips

10:30, LSU confirms Travin Dural

10:34, LSU confirms Kavahra Holmes

10:49, LSU confirms Jerqwinick Sandolph

11:18, LSU confirms Derek Edinburgh

12:07, LSU confirms Avery Johnson

On January 5th, Landon Collins committed to Alabama. LSU fans were aghast, particularly after receiving positive signals directly from the Collins camp. Safety was one area of need for the 2012 recruiting class and it seems Ron Cooper has found his men in Jerqwinick Sandolph and now, Corey Thompson.

Thompson, a long time Texas A&M commit (welcome to the SEC, boys), hails from Missouri City, Texas. Of the four major recruiting services, Rivals, Scout, ESPN and 247, the vote is split: Rivals and ESPN rate him a 3-star, while Scout and 247 rate him as a 4-star. Further, Scout is the only site of the four which lists Thompson as a LB. So where does he project? And what type of player is he? More after the jump...

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Image from Liggins commitment announcement in the heart of Oxford, MS, via SBN Atlanta's Steven Godfrey

I wrote about Jeremy last week. Liggins is from Oxford (I know, feel sorry for him). Rivals lists him at 6'3, 270 lbs, but some recent reports suggest he may be more like 6'4, 290+. If so, that sounds more like a DT or OG than a QB.

My thoughts on him remain the same: I'm happy to have Liggins on board, but I'd be shocked if QB is in his future at LSU. His arm, while under-developed, doesn't appear to have a ton of natural ability. He's a bit of a soft-tosser... think Chris Relf. That being said, the quality of the highlight tapes, combined with the lack of passing attempts doesn't give a great source of evaluation. He does show good touch, and his throwing motion is compact. Could he be a QB at the D1 level? I think so. But he needs to be in a spread-option based offense, and I'm not sure Miles is willing to make a transition to that fully.

Now, Liggins does have a tremendous reputation for being a "field general" and a leader. That being said, from the tape I see a kid who is a naturally gifted runner and I'll never, ever oppose LSU stocking up on big athletes that can run. Liggins' future could be at TE or even on the DL. If he does play QB, frankly, I'll be surprised, but the nice thing is he has the ability to be used in many places on the field.

At worst, Liggins gives LSU another body at QB. At best, he's another big athlete that we can find a spot for. He claims he prefers to play QB (that's all he's ever played), but that he'd do whatever it takes to help the team. Saying that and following through on it are often different things. It appears Brick Haley was given the lead on recruiting Liggins, which could speak to where they expect him to wind up. Or, it could mean nothing.

In short, Liggins is a nice get for LSU.

As some of y'all may or may not know, my start in this whole sports-writing game was with Tiger Rag Magazine, circa 2002. And in the two-and-a-half years I worked there, I was lucky enough to work with, learn from and even briefly fill in for, one of the most thorough, enthusiastic, professional and connected recruiting reporters/analysts in the business, Sonny Shipp. In the past few years, Tiger Rag has moved off of the Scout.com network (I can actually remember when it was theinsiders.com), but Sonny has remained as one of the network's chief analysts and scouts for the Louisiana/East Texas region and one of the moderators of the LSU affiliate, Tiger Sports Digest with Shea Dixon and Randy Rosetta. And, he was nice enough to answer a couple of questions for us on LSU's recruiting class of 2012.

1. We're at just about a week to National Signing Day, LSU has a handful of scholarship spots left. What players are the coaches targeting and which ones are realistic possibilities?

At the top of the list you have Mario Edwards and the big question here is will he follow in his father's footsteps or will he carve out his own path. Shea Dixon had some good insight from Mario Sr. following the official visit this past weekend and it looks like it's going to be a NSD announcement that Tiger fans will have to wait on.

The other big need is Cordarrelle Patterson because of Rueben Randle's decision to go pro then you have Jeremy Liggins due to the Gunner Kiel fiasco.

Kwon Alexander would be another big fish to add to the haul as well as Corey Thompson and what a finish that would be if LSU landed those five guys. Odds are they will not but it looks like it will go down to the wire.

2. How do you see the rest of this class filling out?

I think they will finish up with Patterson and possibly Alexander from the list above then turn to some in-state guys with possibly Jacoby Briscoe as a DL and Alonzo Moore as a DB. Those are some guys I expect to get late looks this week.

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Sorry for the less than timely posting, work took me out behind the shack and gave me the Bama treatment (too soon?). In a bit of shocking and depressing news, Gunner Kiel officially decommitted/switched/became a Domer on Tuesday after pledging to LSU around Christmas.

To many, the decision wasn't altogether shocking, as his family pulls were always strong. However, the news seemingly couldn't have broken at a worse time. And so it capped the seemingly endless black cloud which hovered over the program post [Game Redacted]. LSU's class remains QB-less for the moment. It's a tough pill to swallow, but I do believe it's best that Gunner made this decision now rather coming to LSU and leaving after a single semester or year. In the end, Gunner was always a long shot for LSU and having his commitment was an exciting moment.

Regardless, recruiting season chugs forward and Miles has been actively hitting the road trying to secure more signatures for the purple and gold. Who is left on the board and what are our chances? More after the jump.

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