National Signing Day Open Thread

In recent years the official signing day in February has lost most of its luster due to the early signing portion held in December.

Nowadays most schools recruiting classes are largely accounted by the first Wednesday in February but there’s always a few notable players who don’t sign in December for a variety of reasons.

LSU currently has 20 players in its 2021 recruiting class who have already signed their letters of intent, with nine of them already on campus as early enrollees. That number should, at the very least, increase to 22 signatures with Louisiana defensive end Saivion Jones and Florida offensive linemen Kimo Makaneole both expected to put the pen to paper.

Ostensibly speaking, LSU has 22 players in hand with room to add three more players if they so choose. LSU could save those three spots to add transfers to its 2021 roster or hold on to them and backfill its 2022 class. Adding players via the transfer portal seems to be the plan as far as Ed Orgeron is concerned. Orgeron said in a press conference yesterday that he “expects” to keep a few spots open for transfers.

So who are some names that the coaching staff and fans alike should keep an eye out for today? Let’s dive in

Brian Thomas Jr.

The biggest fish left for Coach O and company to reel in. The four-star, top-100 prospect from Walker has been the hardest player to get a read on for someone that appears to be an obvious LSU commit.

And yet Alabama and Texas A&M loom. LSU’s wide receiver room is already full of underclassmen who contributed in 2020 and the Tigers have already signed four wide receivers. Is there room for a fifth wide receiver? In Thomas’s case I would say yes, you always make room for a kid that talented that close to your campus.

Logan Diggs

A three-star running back from Rummel, Diggs will be choosing between LSU and Notre Dame. Diggs pledged to Notre Dame this past July, but LSU still threw an offer Diggs’s way in early December. There’s mutterings that Diggs is being recruited by LSU to play linebacker. But based off what our friends from One Foot Down have told me, Diggs signed with Notre Dame in December but chose not to publicly announce it for whatever reason. At any rate, LSU already has two running backs in hand, Armoni Goodwin and Corey Kiner, LSU I can’t imagine the staff being too torn up if Diggs does indeed go to South Bend.

Cole Lourd

This is a recently developing situation. Lourd, a three-star quarterback from California, got an LSU offer Monday. Lourd is a legacy, his father is an LSU grad.

What this offer means, I have no idea. LSU has four scholarship quarterbacks on the roster now that Garrett Nussmeier has enrolled. Maybe its insurance in case one of Myles Brennan, TJ Finley or Max Johnson leaves the program.

Jordan Moko

Moko is the top JUCO offensive linemen in the cycle and has LSU in his final three along with Texas A&M and Oregon. But with LSU returning all five starting linemen in 2021 the momentum linking Moko to the Tigers has waned, and Texas A&M has emerged as the favorite for the Australian tackle.