LSU Football 2021 Class Ranked No. 5 Overall in Inaugural SI All-American Team Rankings

The 2021 LSU football recruiting class has been lauded by all recruiting networks across the board as it addresses multiple team needs with an abundance of high quality talent. At 18 commits and only seven spots remaining, how the Tigers close out the class over the next few months will determine how great this class will turn out but there is a chance this could be one of the most impressive hauls the program has ever brought in.

On Tuesday, SI All-American released its top-25 team rankings and the Tigers ranked No. 5 overall. The team grades take into a number of factors including how each program addressed areas of need at the various positions as well as how many prospects ranked in the inaugural SI99, which was released last month.

LSUCountry caught up with recruiting analyst Edwin Weathersby to gauge why the Tigers fell where they did in the initial top-25 rankings.

Our first component of our rankings process was quality talent regarding the class as a whole group. Obviously, in regards to LSU, it starts with the Tigers having four SI99 commitments (Davis, Wiggins, Earle and Jackson), which was among the most by one school. Next, we evaluated the talent quality at our premium positions, in which the Tigers boast a solid QB prospect in Garrett Nussmeier, an elite CB prospect in Wiggins and have prospects we feel have pass-rushing upside in Jackson and Zavier Carter. We're not quite sure Garrett Dellinger will play left tackle in Baton Rouge, but he could be an elite right tackle in a few seasons.

So, there's our second component, and LSU has quality at all premium positions.

Finally, replenishing needs was a big emphasis of ours. LSU needed defensive linemen and receivers in this 2021 group. They have three receivers in this class, as we list Earle as a RB with Slot WR skills, so that makes the group 4 from a certain point of view. The Tigers have five defensive linemen committed, with Carter also capable of playing rush end in sub packages.

Overall, LSU's 18-commit class grades out high in three facets of our main components of criteria, which led to us comfortably notching the Tigers at the No. 5 spot, for now.

Like Weathersby pointed out, LSU has attacked two areas of need better than most in receiver and defensive end. Two position groups the team would love to add more talent to is the offensive line and the secondary. Dellinger is currently the only offensive lineman committed to the class and the team is pursuing Tristan Leigh and Savion Byrd, two of the 14 prospects who were on LSU's campus this weekend for a visit.

Khari Gee and Nathaniel Wiggins are the two commits in the secondary but the program is also pursuing Sage Ryan out of Louisiana and Alabama's Ga'Quincy McKinstry.

How LSU ultimately fares with some of the top prospects in the class remains to be seen but everything we've heard from the commits who were in Baton Rouge over the weekend was positive. Now we just have to wait and see where the chips fall.

Here's a full list of the top-25 including how many SI99 prospects are committed to each program:

1. Ohio State - 10

2. Alabama - 8

3. Clemson - 7

4. Georgia - 5

5. LSU - 4

6. Michigan - 4

7. Florida - 3

8. Oregon - 2

9. Miami - 2

10. Oklahoma - 4

11. Notre Dame - 4

12. Tennessee - 4

13. Auburn - 3

14. North Carolina - 2

15. USC - 2

16. Texas - 2

17. Texas A&M - 1

18. Washington - 2

19. Wisconsin - 0

20. Minnesota - 2

21. Arizona State - 1

22. Iowa - 0

23. Maryland - 1

24. Nebraska - 1

25. Florida State - 0