LSU football: 5 most underrated players in LSU Tigers history

During the peak of the Les Miles era in Baton Rouge, LSU was loaded on the defensive side of the ball. While the offense left so much to be desired, LSU could consistently outwork and outplay anyone in the country with its strong defensive prowess. One could who was a standout in the early 2010s for them was defensive end Sam Montgomery.

Montgomery was a four-star recruit coming out of his native Greenwood, South Carolina. The No. 3 defensive end prospect in the nation quickly flourished in SEC play. After playing sparingly as a true freshman in 2010, Montgomery earned his first of two-straight All-SEC First Teams. He had 49 combined tackles, 13.5 for a loss of yardage and nine of them going for sacks in 2011.

Montgomery’s sophomore season coincided with an SEC Championship and nearly a national title. LSU fell to the Alabama Crimson Tide in the BCS National Championship game in January and never really recovered as a program until Ed Orgeron’s magnificent 2012 team. Montgomery earned First-Team All-SEC status as a junior in 2012 before turning pro.

He would be a third-round pick by the Houston Texans in the 2013 NFL Draft, but didn’t make it through his rookie season with the team, as he was released for violating team rules on Oct. 21. Montgomery then spent time on the Oakland Raiders and the Cincinnati Bengals practice squads before being out of the league in 2016. He most recently played for the DC Defenders in the XFL.