2018 3-Star DL Ja’Quon Griffin and LSU Go Separate Ways

News broke this evening that a verbal commitment Ja’Quon Griffin re-opened his recruitment:

Griffin committed with teammates Adam Anderson and Jamarcus Chatman back in April of this year. In time, Anderson and then Chatman de-committed, opting for Georgia and Tennessee respectively, leaving Griffin as the lone commitment from the trio.

I’ve speculated for a while that the commitments of Griffin and possibly even Chatman were solely tied to Anderson, who is a 5-star pass rusher in the mold of Arden Key. A source inside football ops confirmed this detail for me tonight, indicating the break from Griffin was a long time coming. This is no real surprise for a signing class sitting at 18 commitments and firmly tied to taking just 25 in this class and virtually all of the star power sitting on the outside looking in.

LSU’s current class is ranked 14th, a subpar level compared to high expectations set by Miles and Orgeron’s first class last year. I’ve written before that I believe O is in a bit of a tough spot for filling out this class, as it is a down year in state and you can’t come in making promises of state loyalty and then bypass loads of recruits.

That said, LSU has positioned itself for a strong finish with a handful of 5-star prospects still in play, including WR Terrace Marshall, DB Patrick Surtain Jr., DB Anthony Cook, and 4-stars as well, in WR Justin Watkins, RB Harold Joiner, OT Badar Traore, and QB James Foster.

The next two weeks should give us a fuller picture of how this class will shake out. Orgeron will push for every verbally committed prospect to sign on early signing day. Those who don’t may ultimately winding up losing their spots. I suspect most every recruit you see verbally committed to LSU will sign on that day, leaving LSU will only a small handful of prospects to focus on for the final month of the recruiting season.

We’re just getting started with recruiting season!