LSU coach Les Miles and his staff have once again assembled a solid group of incoming freshman for the 2012 recruiting class.
One thing that sticks out when looking at the commitments: there aren’t any five-star recruits on the list.
Even with no majorly-hyped recruits coming to Baton Rouge, Tiger fans shouldn’t doubt the ability of this class to contribute for LSU immediately and in the years to come.
So why exactly should LSU fans be optimistic about a bunch of three- and four-star recruits?
A few weeks ago when the Tigers took the field for the BCS National Championship Game, there was only one five-star recruit in the starting lineup — junior wide receiver Rueben Randle.
Miles has proven over the years that he doesn’t need all high-caliber recruits to contend for national titles.
LSU also had two national award winners in cornerbacks Tyrann Mathieu and Morris Claiborne. Both of those stellar players were ranked as three-star recruits by Scout.com.
Over the last couple of years, LSU has been able to snag in-state recruits like Claiborne and Mathieu that other schools might have overlooked.
In short, it’s beneficial that no high-profile signees are a part of this class. LSU in the past has welcomed blue-chip recruits to campus, and the results haven’t exactly panned out.
One supreme example — the 2009 recruiting class.
It was one of LSU’s best recruiting hauls in recent memory, bringing in a number of five-star players, including Randle, Russell Shepard, Craig Loston and Chris Davenport.
Fast forward to the 2011 season, and those five-stars, besides Randle, haven’t lived up to the high expectations they were brought to Baton Rouge to fulfill.
Davenport switched from defensive tackle to offensive line, where he’s currently lost somewhere on the depth chart. Shepard, who came in as a dual-threat quarterback, moved to wide receiver where he has been much less than spectacular. Even Loston, the No. 1-ranked safety in the country according to Scout.com, only really impacted the team this season with his special teams play.
I’m not saying it would have been a terrible situation for LSU football if five-star safety Landon Collins or quarterback Gunner Kiel chose LSU instead of their current destinations. This class just has so many undervalued incoming freshmen that could make an impact for the Tigers in 2012.
A plethora of linebackers highlight LSU’s new recruiting class.
One of the biggest steals of signing day was No. 3 outside linebacker Kwon Alexander. With Ryan Baker graduating, Alexander, an Oxford, Ala., native could come in right away and contend for one of the starting outside linebacker positions.
I also loved the way Alexander chose LSU, pulling off a sweatshirt to reveal purple and gold suspenders. It doesn’t get any classier than that.
He will add instant depth to the linebacker corps, probably LSU’s weakest position going into spring practice.
A couple of other players in this LSU class I like include four-stars Dwayne Thomas, a cornerback from O.P. Walker in New Orleans, and four-star wide receiver Avery Johnson out of Pompano Beach, Fla.
Thomas has a shot to come in and compete for time in the secondary with the departures of Claiborne to the NFL and Ron Brooks to graduation. Johnson, brother of LSU great Patrick Peterson, showed quickness in the Under Armour All-American Game that could be utilized early in the passing attack.
The 2012 class also won’t have as much pressure to make a significant impact right away as in years past with a majority of returning starters. However, don’t think Miles won’t hesitate to pull a redshirt off any of these recruits as he did this season with defensive lineman Jermauria Rasco and safety Ronald Martin.
While LSU didn’t haul in any big-time recruits like a Shepard or a La’el Collins, I’ll gladly take a couple of three-star players that turn out to be as good of players as Claiborne and Mathieu.
Micah Bedard is a 21-year old mass communication senior from Houma. Follow him on Twitter @DardDog
 
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Contact Micah Bedard at [email protected]