LSU football: 1 can’t-miss recruit Ed Orgeron needs to sign this recruiting class
By John Buhler
Ed Orgeron must land this five-star recruit to set up his LSU football team for future success.
Even though Ed Orgeron’s LSU football program is dominating in recruitment this cycle, the Bayou Bengals cannot afford to let five-star safety Jacoby Mathews leave their talent-rich state.
According to the 247Sports Composite, Mathews is the No. 2 safety in the country, the No. 3 player from Louisiana and the No. 27 overall prospect nationally. The 6-foot-1 and 204-pound defensive standout from Ponchatoula has 31 official offers but is looking primarily at these six Power 5 programs: Alabama, Clemson, Florida, LSU, Mississippi State and Oklahoma.
Entering mid-April 2021, LSU has the No. 3 recruiting class in the country behind only Ohio State and Georgia. Even after a down year for the program, LSU continues to crush the competition on the recruiting trail. Given the Tigers’ typical stranglehold of top-tier, in-state talent, seeing a player of Mathews’ caliber sign with another Power 5 team would be seen as a total disaster regionally.
LSU football: Do the Tigers end up getting Jacoby Mathews’ commitment?
If Mathews were to commit to LSU, he would be the Tigers’ third five-star commitment of this cycle, joining pro-style passer Walker Howard and offensive tackle Will Campbell. Though no 247Sports staffer has made a prediction on Mathews’ commitment, he does have his first official visit with Florida coming on June 4. It is really up in the air at this time over where he will commit.
His primary recruiter to LSU is special teams coordinator Greg McMahon. Though he primarily recruits special teams players like kicker Cade York, McMahon was the secondary recruiter on last year’s five-star defensive tackle Maason Smith. The biggest advantage LSU has in Mathews’ commitment is that he plays in-state. Few programs protect their borders quite as LSU does.
Though it may take a while before he commits somewhere, LSU will be in the mix for Mathews.
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