5-star LB, Dylan Moses, took to Baton Rouge this weekend for his final official visit before early enrolling in a few weeks. Unfortunately, he opted to stick with his previous Alabama commitment. Ed Orgeron’s first major recruiting battle as head coach is a loss.

LSU must now turn its eyes to the remaining LB targets on their board. As discussed last week, the coaches must have growing confidence in their ability to flip another prospect, as they would not accept a commitment from 3-star Shanon Reid.

Here are the main names you should be keeping an eye on:

• Will Ignont
• K’Lavon Chaisson
• Willie Gay
• Levi Jones
• Monty Rice

If LSU can somehow pull two of these five, it will be a solid haul all things considered. One thing that’s readily apparent is that Aranda’s value, much like Chavis’, comes from his coaching acumen and not his recruiting. Aranda is listed as the primary recruiter for Jacoby Stephens, but his commitment was heavily influenced by the work of Austin Thomas. Aranda has not landed a single other player on his primary targets list, notably losing Christopher Allen to Alabama. If the staff is able to land Levi Jones and flip Will Ignont, it would be a much better look for his recruiting. Until then, recruits have not yet awakened to the value of playing LB in his defense.

Monty Rice will announce his decision today, though it’s widely expected he will choose Georgia.

2019 OT Kenyon Green Commits!

Sophomore OT Kenyon Green announced his commitment over the weekend. File this one away in the “long way to go folks,” category, but Green is already 6’5”, 300 pounds and athletic.

We’re still a long ways off here, but it’s good to see the staff having a strong pull in SE Texas, even after the departure of Bradley Dale Peveto, the long-time East Texas recruiting ace. He’s the 4th commitment to the 2019 class.

Lowell Narcisse Re-opens Recruitment

Coming on the heels of his official visit to LSU, I have no idea what to make of this:

Frankly, at this point the staff seems to have completely bungled QB recruiting... again. For Narcisse to open his recruitment just after taking an official visit to Baton Rouge is simply... horrendous. How can the staff possibly make such little impact when getting him on campus?

One of the primary rationales for the Orgeron hiring was recruiting both short and long term. In the short term the expectation was minimal cutover would cause continuity and the class would stay intact. Instead we’ve seen both QBs waver, the loss of one of the state’s best LBs to Alabama and the inability to flip another top flight player with longtime LSU interest. To say Orgeron is getting his tenure off on a bad foot is a complete understatement.

Dead Period

Last night at midnight initiated the dead period until the early signing date through December 14th on Wednesday. Jacoby Stephens, Mannie Netherly, Austin Deculus will all sign.

The other name to watch here is Cam Akers. Orgeron got the final in-home visit with the 5-star RB last night. Akers played in the Mississippi-Alabama All-Star game over the weekend and 247 anointed him their new no. 1 RB. Akers is an early enrollee but his recruitment has been strange. He took only two official visits, one to Ohio State and one to Florida State. Yet, most seem to think he’s Ole Miss or LSU bound. His crystal ball is all over the map and recent predictions don’t shed any further insight. In the past two weeks he’s had a pick for LSU, a pick for Ole Miss and two picks for FSU. I do know Orgeron was his top choice for the LSU gig, and he seems to like the idea of playing alongside Derrius Guice this year before taking on the full-time role. Can Juluke work some recruiting magic?

All-Star Game Season

Beyond the dead period, we will jump head first into the All-American games and be full-steam ahead in the race to National Signing Day. It’s clear the staff has their work cut out for them. Moses was a major piece of this class likely factored into the staff’s plans for half a decade. Now he’s signed to the juggernaut in your division. LSU’s class still sits at no. 5 nationally with 18 commitments. The staff needs to work hard to lock up Myles Brennan and Lowell Narcisse and find some LBs in order to meet their needs.