As the pain of Monday night’s 25-24 Chick-fil-A Bowl loss still lingers with the LSU football team, Friday brought a sobering reality to Baton Rouge as five underclassmen declared for the NFL Draft.
Sophomore punter Brad Wing joined the junior foursome of safety Eric Reid, cornerback Tharold Simon, running back Spencer Ware and linebacker Kevin Minter as players making themselves eligible for April’s draft.
Minter had a stellar 2012 season as the Suwanee, Ga. native garnered First Team All-American honors from Sports Illustrated and was named a finalist for the Butkus Award – given annually to college football’s top linebacker.
Finishing with 130 tackles for the season, Minter will be most remembered for his heroic efforts in LSU’s 14-6 loss against Florida, where the junior fought cramps to record 20 tackles, a school record 17 of which were solo.
Minter was named the team’s overall MVP at its annual awards banquet and most outstanding defensive player in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, where he logged 19 tackles while again battling cramps.
Wing broke onto the national scene during his freshman season as he averaged 44.4 yards per punt while being named a First Team All-American by the Associated Press and a semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award.
Perhaps more than his booming punts and pinpoint accuracy, the Melbourne, Australia native is remembered for his antics on a fake punt during LSU’s 41-11 win against Florida last season, when Wing taunted two Florida defenders before crossing the goal line, costing LSU the touchdown.
After sitting out the Tigers’ season opening 41-14 win against North Texas with a sore hamstring, Wing rebounded to land 21 of 59 punts inside the 20-yard line this season.
Wing was suspended for the Tigers’ Chick-fil-A Bowl loss for a violation of team rules, with TigerRag citing an unnamed athletic department source claiming the suspension was correlated to a failed drug test.
Reid cemented himself as one of LSU’s most decorated safeties, becoming the sixth First Team All-American defensive back under coach Les Miles.
A permanent team captain in 2012, Reid was third on the team with 91 tackles and chipped in two interceptions with seven pass break-ups.
“This was a very difficult decision because I always wanted to be a Tiger and I love LSU,” Reid said in a news release. “But, after careful consideration and talking with my family, I feel like this is the right time to make this decision. I will always be a LSU Tiger.”
Simon, thrust into the spotlight after former LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu’s dismissal before the season, led the Tigers with four interceptions and nine pass break ups.
However, Simon didn’t bring his LSU career to a neat end, as Clemson wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins shredded the Eunice native to the tune of 13 catches for 191 yards and two scores at the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
Ware began the season atop the depth chart alongside a bevy of capable runners who eventually overtook him as the season progressed.
Starting only four games, the Cincinnati, Ohio native finished with 367 yards on the ground and one touchdown while hauling in 18 passes for 230 yards and a score
The Tigers are yet to hear from a number of highly-touted underclassmen regarding their NFL Draft status, including defensive linemen Sam Montgomery, Barkevious Mingo and Bennie Logan.
