Article Mike Detillier: The national recruiting plan for LSU & Early Views from Saints Workouts (1 Viewer)

[longtime lurker]

Love the early positive reports on McCoy. I our line is stacking up to be awesome once again.

 

[Mr. Littlejeans]

EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

"The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Cobbs was a standout end at Indiana....."

" in virtually every practice session the physical end has made an impressive catch using his excellent size and length, and he has shown good hands."

" in 2017 the 6-0, 215-pound end caught 53 passes for 795 yards and four scores for Tennessee."

Dave Parks was an end. These guys are WR.
Still love Detillier, and I love the potential of both these "ends" in our offense.

 

[Mr. Littlejeans]

I can't access the Houma articles at all from Europe due to GDPR. Can anyone give a guy a helping hand to read Mike's articles?

By Mike Detillier / Sports Correspondent
Posted Jun 15, 2019 at 3:37 PMUpdated Jun 15, 2019 at 3:37 PM

In December, LSU head football coach Ed Orgeron said that the Tiger football team would take a “pivot” in recruiting.
While they would always recruit Louisiana athletes first, the team would put more emphasis on getting some of the best football players across the nation.
It takes a little while to show results from the recruiting efforts nationally, but if the early numbers in commitments mean anything, LSU has made a quick and huge mark recruiting along the east and west coasts.
As of press time, LSU sits with 17 commitments for the 2020 season and 13 of them are from out-of-state recruits.
In the past the Tigers have gotten a player or two from out west or from the midwest, but nothing in the history of LSU football at the volume we have seen over the past few months.
LSU has three California commitments in cornerback Elias Ricks, wide receiver Jermaine Burton and defensive tackle Jordan Berry.
From the east coast, LSU has surprisingly landed commitments from wide receiver Rakim Jarrett from the Washington D.C. area, inside linebacker Antoine Sampah from Virginia and safety Jordan Toles and defensive end Demon Clowney from Maryland.
The Tiger football program has never had this sort of success out east.
Texas has always been a hotspot for LSU recruiting and that continues with commitments from inside linebacker Josh White, defensive end Alec Bryant and cornerback Lorando Johnson.
The Tigers have also landed commitments from quarterback Max Johnson from Georgia and offensive guard Marlon Martinez from Florida.
And LSU has gotten a verbal commitment from defensive end Ali Gaye from Garden City Community College, who grew up in the state of Washington.
Verbal commitments aren’t worth the paper they are written on and it will be interesting to see how many of the commitments sign on in December or early February of 2020, but the early results are eye-catching to say the least and it shows how many of the top players across America view the LSU Tiger football program today.
LSU has four verbal commitments from the state of Louisiana in wide receiver Kayshon Boutte from Westgate High School, cornerback Major Burns from Madison Prep Academy in Baton Rouge, quarterback T.J. Finley from Ponchatoula High School and defensive tackle CamRon Jackson from Haynesville High School.
The Tigers have made hard pushes to land a threesome of defensive linemen from Louisiana in Jaquelin Roy from University Lab in Baton Rouge, Jacobian Guillory from Alexandria High School and Jalen Lee from Live Oak High School in Watson.
The Tigers have also been heavily recruiting the talents of offensive guard/center Sedrick Van Pran from Warren Easton, his teammate at Warren Easton in halfback Ashaad Johnson, Rummel High School wide receiver Koy Moore and Terrebonne High School standout athlete Ja’khi Douglas.
But the list of top recruits from across the country wanting to or that have visited LSU is very impressive.
Former Miami (Fla.) and Dallas Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson put it best about college football recruiting.

“People that say recruiting is overrated have never played or coached in their lives,” Johnson said. “Coaching does matter, but you win with talent. It is what keeps the heart pumping in college football. And when you win and win big two things are going to happen. The first one is that players that would never consider your college will be very interested in joining your school and secondly you will lose some of those tope players early to the NFL.”
Getting verbal commitments from this volume of players from out of the state is unprecedented in LSU football history and there is still plenty of work to do to get them signed on, but this development is the biggest story of the spring and the early summer days for the LSU football program.
EARLY VIEWS FROM SAINTS WORKOUT DAYS
Training Camp is right around the corner for the New Orleans Saints, but here are a few of my looks at the early offseason workouts.
Tight end Jared Cook is a superb fit player in the New Orleans Saints offense. The 32-year-old Cook’s size, length, his ability to stretch the field and playmaking skills after the reception are exactly what this team needs to upgrade their offensive firepower.
Rookie safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson has mentally picked up the Saints defense in short order. Johnson played across the board at Florida at free and strong safety and as a slot cornerback and he has done the same with the Black and Gold and gotten high praise from his teammates and coaches. This Gator has some real “bite” in his play.
Watch for two wide receivers during the training camp period and in preseason games in Simmie Cobbs and newly signed veteran wide receiver Rishard Matthews.
The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Cobbs was a standout end at Indiana and was signed as an undrafted free agent following the 2018 draft. Cobbs caught 139 passes for 1,990 yards for Indiana before turning pro after his junior season, but an off the field incident and an ankle injury led to him to not being selected.
The Saints picked up Cobbs off the Washington Redskins practice squad late in the year and in virtually every practice session the physical end has made an impressive catch using his excellent size and length, and he has shown good hands.
In 2016 and 2017, Matthews had been a “go-to” target for the Tennessee Titans catching 65 passes for 945 yards and nine touchdowns and in 2017 the 6-0, 215-pound end caught 53 passes for 795 yards and four scores for Tennessee.
Former Titans head coach Mike Mularkey praised Matthews for his excellent route running skills and his sure hands, but when Mike Vrabel and his new coaching staff took over Matthews was on the outs and he had a difficult 2018 season with the Titans and later on with the New York Jets.
Watching him work you can clearly see his ability to set up a defender and gain separation downfield, and he makes the catch cleanly.
You can’t see much from a lineman without pads on, but just listening to head coach Sean Payton and offensive line coach Dan Roushar you can tell they are impressed with how quickly offensive center Eric McCoy has caught on mentally to what the Saints are doing and improving his technical skills.
Two rookie draft choices that have flashed their skill set early on have been Notre Dame tight end Alize Mack and Idaho outside linebacker Kaden Elliss. You can clearly see their athletic skills and now it is getting these two players to make sure they know what to do on every play, not just some of the time.
-- NFL analyst Mike Detillier is based in Raceland.​

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[J.T.]

I think Simmie Cobbs is one to watch, he is my darkhorse camp beast, who I think might make the team and contribute in 2019.