Recruiting Roundup; Brumfield Commits!

LSU hosted a number of big-time prospects on campus Saturday to take in the spring game. The biggest news of the day came after the game when U-High offensive lineman Garrett Brumfield ended his recruiting process and committed to LSU. With an absolutely loaded Louisiana class, Brumfield ranks among the state's best.

The 6'4" 285 pound guard falls in line with what LSU seems to be seeking from their offensive line prospects lately. He's on the quick, lean side with the frame to add good weight. Will Clapp Ethan Pocic (2013), KJ Malone (2013) and Jerald Hawkins (2012) are similar, and this differs from some guys in the past such as Trai Turner and Jonah Austin who carried a lot of bad weight that they needed to shed upon arriving to LSU. You'll still see some big guys such as Josh Boutte, but he's put together extremely well and doesn't really need to lose weight so much as he just needs to fine tune his body a bit.

Brumfield is widely considered to be one of the top guard prospects in the nation. At a Rivals camp in Houston, TX last month, Brumfield was named the MVP among linemen. The recruiting sites rank Brumfield as follows:

247 - #8 OG, #107 overall
Rivals - #3 OG, #131 overall
ESPN - #4 OG, #98 overall
Scout - #10 OG, #238 overall

As expected, Brumfield has outstanding feet and quickness. He shows off a very good initial punch and fires off the ball quickly in the run game. He may be a decent candidate to play center, if the depth chart situation presents itself. Unlike most offensive lineman in the high school ranks, Brumfield shows a decent amount of polish in pass protection. He predominantly plays left tackle at U-High and, he handles the edge well, albeit against mostly weak competition.

Trai Turner and Jonah Austin are just sophomores. Combined with incoming freshmen Josh Boutte, Andy Dodd and KJ Malone along with 2014 commitments Clapp and now Brumfield, the interior of LSU's line looks to be in truly outstanding shape for years to come.

Brumfield's commitment will also help strengthen LSU's relationship with U-High...one that was already very strong but may have, in the eyes of some, taken a slight hit when LSU essentially passed on Tim Williams last year who signed with Alabama. With running backs Nic Brossette (2015) and Dylan Moses (2017) looking like some of the top players nationally in their class, it can't hurt to firm up that relationship.

In addition to Brumfield, LSU hosted a number of others. The biggest name on hand was St. Aug running back Leonard Fournette, the #1 prospect in America according to some. He attended the game with his mother, who was decked out in LSU gear, and the Tigers continue to be the big leader for Fournette at this point.

Momdukes said she had a good time at LSU😎😎😎😎 twitter.com/_fournette/sta…

— button (@_fournette) April 20, 2013

John Curtis wide receiver Malachi Dupre attended the spring game, which marks his second visit to see LSU scrimmage in three weeks. Dupre doesn't seem ready to make a decision just yet, but his actions sure seem to point to LSU at this point.

Barbe wide receiver Trey Quinn was also in attendance. Reportedly, Quinn was eager to see Cam Cameron's impact on the passing game and how he might fit into the offense. With the quarterbacks and receivers having nice days, he had to like what he saw on Saturday. I think his visit only pushed him closer to making a decision, which I expect to come before the end of the summer.

LSU commitments Will Clapp, Chris Hardeman and Devin Voorhies were all in attendance. Ole Miss has recently turned up the heat on Voorhies and for the first time, he seems open to hearing their pitch. So it was nice to see him at LSU bonding with coaches, players and other recruits.

Hardeman's teammate, receiver Kennen Brown, also made the trip. Brown has an offer from LSU; however it's not clear if LSU would accept a commitment from him at this time. His offer was issued prior to Tony Upchurch committing, so things may have changed. Regardless, he seems fairly high on LSU right now.

The big out of state visitor was Illinois linebacker Clifton Garrett, one of the top middle linebacker prospects in the nation. The 6'3" 225 pounder is ranked no lower than #59 overall by the recruiting sites. He's the real deal. LSU rolled out the red carpet for Garrett and from the reports surfacing after his visit, they made an enormous impression on him. Garrett has visited Ole Miss before, and he visited Alabama the day before coming to LSU. But LSU was the one that really stood out to Garrett. It's always possible that the luster of his visit wears off over time, but LSU seems to be in a very good spot right now. His recruitment will be an interesting one to watch over the next several months to see if he considers making a return trip to LSU this summer.

On the 2015 front, U-High's star running back Nic Brossette was in attendance as was Catholic High running back Derrius Guice. Brossette already holds an offer from LSU, and Guice received one on Saturday. That means that LSU has more offers to in-state running backs for the Class of 2015 than they do 2014.

Speaking of in-state running backs, John Ehret's Darrell Williams was on hand. Williams is an excellent looking prospect with some SEC offers, but it looks like he'll have to compete at LSU's camp this summer to earn one from the Tigers. I think that's exactly what he'll do, and I think he ultimately ends up signing with LSU.

John Curtis safety Mattrell McGraw was also at the game. McGraw also has a number of SEC offers, but does not yet have one from LSU.

A trio of other Texas prospects made it in, to include defensive end Myles Garrett, safety John Bonney and linebacker Josh Mabin. At this point, Mabin seems the most likely to end up at LSU. He does not yet have an offer, but is planning on camping at LSU in efforts to earn one. Depending on what happens with Clifton Garrett and Kenny Young, Mabin could certainly be an option for the Tigers down the line.

The news was not all good though.

Three of the state's top prospects elected to attend Alabama's spring game in favor of LSU's. West Monroe offensive tackle Cameron Robinson, Neville defensive back Hootie Jones and John Curtis linebacker Kenny Young all made their way to Tuscaloosa on Saturday. That could mean nothing, or it could be indicative of what's on the minds of these prospects. Either way, it surely would have been nice to have them in Baton Rouge instead.

Robinson's visit marks the second time in a few weeks that he's been to Alabama, and I understand that LSU's coaches were expecting him in Baton Rouge as late as Thursday of last week. This interview from Bayou Bengals Insider details some of his thoughts on the visit.

I'd say LSU has a tough battle on their hands for Robinson

Most feel that LSU is in a good spot with Hootie Jones, despite his decision to go to Alabama this weekend.

It's also very curious to me that Kenny Young elected to go to Alabama while two of his teammates went to LSU. We'll have to see what transpires there. A few weeks back, Young took a special trip to LSU to take in a practice and talk to the coaches. After LSU took a commitment from another linebacker, Young wanted to make sure he still had a spot, so he's definitely still considering the Tigers. But while he was in Alabama this weekend, LSU was rolling out the red carpet for another blue chip linebacker, so things could certainly get interesting.

LSU commitment Sharieff Rhaheed visited Alabama this weekend as well. Alabama offered Rhaheed shortly after he committed to LSU, so he decided to check them out.

Karr tight-end Anthony Jones seemed to be on the verge of committing to LSU and many thought he would pull the trigger this weekend at the spring game. Last week, Jones received a flurry of offers including one from Florida State and Jones elected to visit Tallahassee instead of Baton Rouge. So while that was disappointing in the short term, it still seems like LSU is in a good spot for Jones.

Brumfield's pledge gives LSU nine commitments for the Class of 2014, and I expect that number to be in the 15 to 18 range before the end of the summer.