How a Great Weekend at the NFL Draft Can Help LSU Football in Recruiting
High school athletes want to see that a collegiate program is well represented at the NFL draft. It's only natural because for many of the top prospects that LSU is consistently chasing, that's the ultimate goal.
So when coach Ed Orgeron was asked Tuesday how great representation at the NFL draft could benefit the Tigers program, his response struck a chord.
"I think it adds validity to your program. I think it enables you to recruit across the country,” Orgeron said. “Obviously, we're a national brand right now. We want to stay in the state of Louisiana with our great players and we want to continue to win championships."
That particularly rings true for quarterbacks and on Thursday, LSU's Joe Burrow will be the No. 1 pick in the 2020 draft. Burrow's story was unique indeed but his performance last season brought LSU out of its ground and pound ways into a modern spread offense where top notch high school quarterbacks can find success.
"The reason you come to school at LSU is because you want to win the national championship, you want to graduate, and you want to get drafted," Orgeron said. "Now, it's not like we're presenting a plan to the parents. This is what we're going to do, this is the results that's going to happen if we put in the right amount of work."
The Tigers are searching in all corners of the country for their quarterback of the future. That guy may already be in the building, whether it's freshman TJ Finley or Max Johnson. But those two are still raw and with no spring practice in 2020, it could stunt their development a little bit.
Some of the top names that the Tigers are recruiting hard in 2021 are Caleb Williams, Garrett Nussmeier and Miller Moss. Nussmeier and Williams have visited LSU multiple times through camps and unofficials but Moss has yet to visit Baton Rouge, despite having the Tigers in his top four.
One of the difficulties in finding the right fits in the 2021 class, not just at quarterback, is the non-existent recruiting trips to camps and on campus visits that are so vital for evaluations this time of year. Because this recruiting cycle is a special case, Orgeron said more than ever, the scouts and coaching staff will be relying heavily on game film.
"It's tough but it's a level playing field just like everybody else," Orgeron said. "I don't think there'll be any on-campus evaluation over here, I don't think there'll be any camps. We have to trust our evaluation that we get on film, do a diligent job and I think our coaches have done that.
"It's easy to get these guys on the phone right now because everybody's at home so there's been a lot of Facetimes, a lot of talking with parents but I think everybody's ready to move on to the next phase."
What that next phase looks like is anybody's guess but there's a solid chance that recruiting trips won't be allowed until the fall and that's only if campuses are opened by then.
