Some teams lose a coveted athlete or two. Then there’s LSU, which needs to fill the vacancies of the Cotton Bowl Offensive MVP, a Bednarik and Thorpe Award winner and three First-Team All-SEC members.
Senior linebacker Kelvin Sheppard, senior defensive tackle Drake Nevis, junior cornerback Patrick Peterson, junior wide receiver Terrence Toliver and junior running back Stevan Ridley headline the LSU players likely donning NFL jerseys next season.
Sophomore wide receiver Rueben Randle, the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2009, could fill Toliver’s void, freshmen cornerbacks Tyrann Mathieu and Tharold Simon will likely see more time opposite sophomore cornerback Morris Claiborne, and a plethora of young running backs could share the carries.
The rest of these 22 Tiger signees will compete for the remainder of the vacancies.
 
Quarterback
The highly anticipated battle between junior Jordan Jefferson and junior college transfer Zach Mettenberger should be interesting. Mettenberger, who is already enrolled, threw 32 touchdowns and only four interceptions in one season at Butler (Kan.) Community College.
The Tigers finished 102nd in the nation in total passing yards in 2010, but Jefferson delivered another stellar bowl-game performance, throwing for 158 yards and three touchdowns against Texas A&M.
LSU also signed Stephen Rivers, the younger brother of San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers. The versatile 6-foot-7-inch signee had 12 passing touchdowns and nine rushing touchdowns his senior season in Athens, Ala.
Running Back
The Tigers snagged the Louisiana high school rushing yard record holder in Patterson’s Kenny Hilliard, who rushed for 8,603 yards in his high school career. Franklinton’s Terrence Magee, a high school quarterback, will likely play running back at LSU. Magee threw for 2,634 yards and 35 touchdowns and ran for 1,370 yards and 19 touchdowns as a senior.
Redemptorist running back Jeremy Hill, a verbal commitment to LSU who ran for 2,260 yards and 36 touchdowns as a senior, has not yet signed because of legal issues.
 
Wide Receiver
The prize in this class is likely Lutcher’s Jarvis Landry, a five-star Scout.com and Rivals.com recruit who caught eight passes for 70 yards and a touchdown at the Under Armour All-America Game.
Isidore Newman’s Odell Beckham Jr. also projects as a wide receiver. He hauled in 19 touchdown receptions, rushed for six touchdowns, returned two punts for touchdowns and posted four interceptions as a senior. Alonzo Lewis, another multifaceted receiver, caught five touchdowns and picked off two passes his senior season at St. James.
 
Offensive Line
Redemptorist tackle La’el Collins, a consensus five-star prospect who is the Rivals.com No. 1 Louisiana recruit, headlines the offensive linemen. LSU also added Capitol’s Corey White and St. Augustine’s Trai Turner and Jonah Austin, all of whom are three-star linemen on Scout.com.
 
Defensive Line
The blue-chip defensive line recruits keep rolling in. O.P. Walker’s Anthony Johnson, who is already enrolled at LSU, is the consensus No. 1 defensive tackle prospect and broke the Louisiana career sack record with 67.5. LSU also added consensus four-star defensive tackle Mickey Johnson just a few days before Signing Day. The St. Paul graduate registered 50 tackles and 11 sacks his senior season. Rasco, a Scout.com five-star defensive end, was the final signing for the Tigers. He notched a whopping 21 sacks his senior season after tallying 10.5 his junior year. Three-star defensive lineman Quentin Thomas missed his senior season at Breaux Bridge but has the versatility to play anywhere on the line.
 
Linebacker
The one position LSU is light in is linebacker. Trevon Randle from League City, Texas, was the only linebacker LSU signed in the 2011 class. The Clear Springs High School graduate recorded 108 tackles, three interceptions and a sack his senior season.
 
Defensive Back
Four new defensive backs joined “The Fam.”
David Jenkins, the only secondary signee in the Scout.com Top 200, finished his senior season at Hebron High School in Carrollton, Texas, with 49 tackles and four interceptions. Ronald Martin, Jalen Collins and Micah Eugene are all three-star Scout.com safeties. The versatile Eugene also played running back and rushed for 121 yards in the 2010 5A Louisiana State Championship game, scoring the game-winning touchdown for Acadiana. Martin played quarterback and safety, throwing for more than 1,400 yards and picking off nine passes at White Castle.
 
Athlete/Kicker
Paul Turner projects as either a safety or a wide receiver at LSU. The West Monroe native passed for 1,245 yards and 14 touchdowns and rushed for 974 yards and 14 touchdowns his senior season.
Kicker-punter James Hairston made 11-of-16 field goals and averaged 44.8 yards per punt his senior season at Jesuit High School in Dallas.
 
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