It was a big weekend in Baton Rouge, as Les Miles and the Tigers' coaches hosted a camp (it's still going) for up and coming recruits both for the 2013 class and those in future classes as well. 247's Shea Dixon remarked on Twitter that this may be the most star-studded cast ever hosted in Baton Rouge, and certainly the most since he began covering LSU. A few of the select names: Leonard Fournette (2014), Jeryl Brazil, Tre' Davious White, Tony Brown (2014), DeSean Smith, Priest Willis, John Diarse, Tahaan Goodman, Tim Williams, Edward Paris (2014), Nicholas Brossette (2015)... and many, many more.
With a slew of LSU commitments already camping, you can bet they were putting the hard press on in-state guys who are undecided (Tim Williams and Kendell Beckwith) and out-of-state guys who are still going through the process (namely, Priest Willis and Tahaan Goodman). In the past few years, we've seen more and more emphasis on these camp settings, and often low-ranked recruits show up, shine and land an offer much to the dismay of star-searchers, only to later turn out to be complete and utter studs (Tyrann Mathieu please stand up).
This weekend, there were two commitments. After the jump I discuss both, as well as give a few other notable tidbits.
The Shocker
I'm not sure anyone anticipated it, but LSU got the pledge from 2014 STUD linebacker Kain Daub, out of Ponte Verda, FL. Daub is listed as the no. 6 overall player in the class of 2014 on 247, though Rivals and Scout have yet to release any rankings.
For years, we've languished through the lack of LB talent in the state, and overall lack of talent at the position at LSU. Bradie James is the last elite type LB (Kwon Alexander fits this mold, if he's right) LSU fielded. We've had some good to great play from others (Perry Riley, Kelvin Sheppard, Ali Highsmith), but never that elite level. With last year's and now the early pull of Daub, things are trending up. This should be no surprise since we staff one of the finest LB coaches on the planet.
Daub is a big, fast, mean, aggressive dude. He likes LOVES to hit. He's listed at 6'4, 230. Big, big LB. By comparison, he's probably already as big as any LB on our roster. He's incredibly powerful at the point of attack and for a big man, he actually plays with really great leverage. He "gets low" a lot, whether it's driving into blockers or going for tackles. He's aggressive as a blitzer, though he needs to work a bit on his timing (this comes with experience). Plays gunner on special teams. That says a good bit about his mentality. A lot can change between now and next season, much less three or four years from now, but from what I see, Daub is a 1st day-type NFL talent. Salivate below:
Kain Daub #3 LB c/o 2014 Florida Soph. Highlights (via GridIronPreps)
The Inevitable
Rickey Jefferson was coming to LSU. It was just a matter of when. Turned out, Sunday was the day. In case you are in the dark, yes it is that Jefferson, and don't bother turning the comments of this post into "why would we take another Jefferson" bash fest. Rickey is a good player.
He plays WR, RB at Destrehan, but he's coming to us as a DB. Rickey has good speed and quickness. He shows a nice burst, which is important for CB. He's got some toughness about him, which I like. There's no clips of him playing DB, so it's tough to offer more insight than that. Generally though, he has the athletic ability. He's 6'0, 180, so right in the range there too.
Rickey is a good player who the staff held a spot for. For those of you that will hold it against him that he's related to Jordan, well, I'm sorry. Get over it.
Rickey Jefferson Highlights (via coachsentilles)
The Other Stuff
-Reportedly both Leonard Fournette and Kain Daub opted to pass on camping at Bama to stick around in Baton Rouge. Probably means nothing, but it's good to see Fournette sticking around. Lots of rumors (his recruiting process will probably be a bigger, more obnoxious, longer version of the Landon Collins deal) about Fournette and Cyrus Crutchfield and Alabama and blah blah blah. Just let it play out. Fournette is a priority, that much is obvious. If he wants to go to Bama, well good for him.
-Torrodney Prevot is apparently en route to Baton Rouge today. Will the staff make a push for his services?
-We're already at 20 commitments. That leaves us with 5 open spaces, so it'll be interesting to see what happens there. For me, I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of committed guys don't wind up in this class... if other higher profile players pan out.