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Defying the Odds: LSU Football Recruits That Have Exceeded Expectations in Baton Rouge

For five LSU players, being starters for a national championship team took hard work and plenty of doubters

Every recruiting class has them. Those players that no matter the number of stars next to their name, they defy the odds and make significant impacts on the field. 

With LSU's undefeated run through the 2019 season, a handful of players that weren't heavily recruited or well known upon arrival will leave lasting legacies in Baton Rouge for years to come.

Adrian Magee (three-star tackle in 2015 class)

It took the senior guard three years to find his way into the starting rotation, and even once he broke into the starting lineup, he was seen as a weak link. For two years the Tiger offensive line was viewed as the weakest unit on the team and the players took that to heart as 2019 approached.

Magee had been kind of a swiss army knife for the O-line in previous years, starting games at right tackle, left tackle and left guard in 2018. Magee settled in on that left guard spot in the offseason, attributing a growth in maturity to what has been a very successful season for the senior.

He's started all 14 games, 12 coming at left guard for an offensive line that was presented with the Joe Moore Award, given annually to the best offensive line in the country. Even during the season, Magee had to fend off guard Ed Ingram, who was reinstated right before the Vanderbilt game. 

Coach Ed Orgeron admitted in the days after Ingram's reinstatement he thought Ingram would eventually win the starting job. How did Magee react to that news?

It's been that kind of season for the senior guard that held just two other offers outside of LSU: Louisiana Tech and Oklahoma State.

Lloyd Cushenberry (three-star guard in 2016 class)

The unquestioned leader of the offensive line for the last two years, Cushenberry has been the rock that holds the unit together. A former three-star guard recruit out of Dutchtown High School, Cushenberry won the starting center job in 2018 and hasn't looked back.

When kickoff of the national championship rolls around, Cushenberry will make his 28th straight start at center for the Tigers, not missing a game in the last two seasons. His leadership on the field earned him the No. 18 jersey for his junior season, making Cushenberry the first offensive lineman to ever be honored with the jersey.

"I think that's the best kind of leadership," quarterback Joe Burrow said back in August. "You have some leaders that always have something to say, and then people start to tune them out. So when they actually have something to say that matters, nobody will listen to them. I think Lloyd is the epitome of that kind of leadership: He doesn't say a lot, but when he does, you're going to listen to him."

Cushenberry and the offensive line have come a long way since Orgeron made these comments after the shutout loss to Alabama in 2018. 

“Our offensive line was getting beaten one-on-one. We had max protection. Those guys were beating us. They stunned us," Orgeron said after the 2018 loss. "We tried everything we possibly could—go full-wide, max protection. We just got beat. We got beat on the line of scrimmage. We gotta get better. We gotta recruit better offensive linemen.”

This season the tune has changed, as Orgeron and Burrow have both called the offensive line the most improved unit on the team. During his Heisman speech the first people Burrow thanked were his offensive linemen, starting with Cushenberry.

"You always watch the Heisman every year and just to be a part of playing a role in someone's season that results in a Heisman, it was just a great feeling," Cushenberry said. "It hit a special place in my heart when I heard him call our names first, shed a few tears probably but it was a special night."

Clyde Edwards-Helaire (three-star running back in 2017 class)

The season that junior running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire has had will be remembered for a long time in Baton Rouge. Look no further than the 180-yard, four touchdown performance against Alabama on Nov. 9, one that will be etched in Tiger folklore for years to come.

In his first full season as the starting running back for LSU, Edwards-Helaire rushed for 1,304 yards and 16 touchdowns, which both rank in the top-three in the conference. He was named an AP First-Team All-American while also being a Paul Hornung award finalist, going to college football's most versatile player.

Edwards-Helaire has likely played himself into a day two NFL draft pick in 2020 which was an inconceivable notion to start the season. 

“I came into this year, kinda the starter,” Edwards-Helaire said after the Alabama win. “Solidified myself, being able to play in these games. Week in and week out, always being doubted. Come in, probably be doubted again next week. But that’s something that motivates me.”

Justin Jefferson (three-star wide receiver in 2017 class)

The third in a long line of Jefferson brothers that included quarterback Jordan and safety Rickey, it's the youngest Justin who has proven to be the best. In two years as a starting wide receiver, the numbers Jefferson has compiled are truly staggering.

In 2018, Jefferson was quite literally a one-man horse, catching 54 passes for 875 yards and six touchdowns. The next closest teammates in regards to catches were Stephen Sullivan and Ja'Marr Chase, who both caught 23 passes apiece in 2018.

Fast-forward to 2019 and the high-powered offense that now exists, and Jefferson has seen his 2018 stats double and in some cases triple. This season Jefferson has brought in 102 receptions for 1,434 yards and 18 touchdowns. 

Jefferson was a part of an LSU offense that featured the first 5,000-yard passer (Burrow), 1,000-yard rusher (Edwards-Helaire) and two 1,000-yard receivers (Jefferson and Chase) in the same season in NCAA history.

His 14-catch, 227-yard and four-touchdown day against Oklahoma in the Peach Bowl broke all kinds of bowl records, including the New Year's Six and College Football Playoff record for touchdowns in a single playoff game.

Jefferson is as outspoken a player that this LSU team has and after the win over Oklahoma, the junior wanted people to know what the focus was for this team.

"I mean, we're not done," Jefferson said. "We still have one more game left. We're going to go into these next two weeks focused and ready to go. And I mean, dominate the next matchup that we face."

Damien Lewis (three-star guard in 2018 class)

Lewis is someone that simply comes in and does his job as a two year starter at right guard. Much like Cushenberry, Lewis has started 27 straight games for the Tigers at right guard and could be 28 depending on the severity of his knee injury sustained in the win over Oklahoma.

"We thought maybe we'd have to do some work on him but it looks like we won't," Orgeron said of Lewis' injury. "Obviously he'll have to have a lot of rehab, we'll know more next week but he's not going to practice this week. We think we may have him for the game but we'll have to see how far he gets this week."

Also like Cushenberry, Lewis only held five offers coming out of Northwest Mississippi Community College in 2018, holding offers from SEC schools like Ole Miss, Kentucky and South Carolina.

Lewis has been the catalyst on the right side of the offensive line and a big part in the success the Tigers have had in the run game. His consistency has been the truly remarkable part of his game as even in 2018 when the offensive line was struggling, Lewis was doing his job.

For the 2019 season, Lewis was named to the AP All-SEC second team and a first-team All-American by the Athletic.