LSU football recruiting stays hot in push for the No. 1 class

The LSU football staff added two more commitments over the past week, and both are Top 50 prospects on the On3 Industry Rankings for the 2025 class.

First came a commit from 5-star+ cornerback prospect DJ Pickett, who checks in as the No. 1 cornerback and No. 3 overall prospect on the On3 Rankings.

48 hours later, the Tigers beat out Notre Dame and more for 4-star Derek Meadows, who heads into his senior season at Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) as a Top 10 wide receiver on the On3 Industry Rankings.

LSU once sat in the No. 1 spot in the recruiting rankings for the 2025 class, and the Tigers have not been ranked lower than No. 5. After commits from Pickett and Meadows, LSU jumped Georgia and Oregon to move back into the No. 3 spot.

Here’s a deeper dive into how the LSU recruiting class looks now, how it was built along the way and more.

LSU has the best average rating per commitment

With 18 commitments for the 2025 cycle, 16 of LSU’s commitments are ranked as 5-star or 4-star prospects, giving the Tigers one of the best blue-chip ratios in America. Just as impressive, 16 of LSU’s 18 commits are ranked inside the On300, which was updated this month.

While Alabama and Ohio State are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 by the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Rankings, no college football program in America has a higher average rating per commit than the Tigers.

On3’s database allows users to sort the team rankings by the highest average rating per commit, based on the On3 Industry Ranking. This shows users the average rating of a program’s entire class instead of a class score factoring in the number of prospects committed.

The current average number of commits used in the On3 Industry Football Team Recruiting Rankings sits at 16. The rolling number, which varies by year, capped out at at 18 (2024), 19 (2023) and 17 (2022) across the past three recruiting cycles.

With 16 commits currently factored in, LSU’s average commit rating of 92.63 is the highest among all FBS programs. Oregon (16 commits, No. 5 class) and Ohio State (24 commits, No. 2 class) are the lone other programs above a 92 average rating for the program’s 16 highest-ranked commits.

LSU moved into the No. 1 spot in January 2024

The first prospect on LSU’s commit list to join the class was New Orleans offensive lineman Brett Bordelon, a legacy prospect whose brother, Bo Bordelon, is a current offensive lineman for the Tigers. Bordelon’s commitment came in December 2022.

When the calendar turned to 2023, the Tigers reeled in commits from three prospects in 12 months by adding another LSU legacy in 4-star tight end JD LaFleur, the son of former LSU tight end David LaFleur, 4-star linebacker Keylan Moses, and 4-star wide receiver TaRon Francis, who remains the top-ranked wideout in Louisiana’s 2025 class.

Then came the run that pushed LSU into the No. 1 spot in the rankings as the page turned from the 2024 class to the current 2025 cycle. With four Louisiana commits on board to begin the class, the biggest out-of-state fish was soon to be reeled in.

In the first week of January, LSU landed two 5-star commits in quarterback Bryce Underwood and running back Harlem Berry. Underwood is a 5-star+ prospect who checks in as the No. 1 overall recruit in America, regardless of position. Berry, Louisiana’s top prospect, has remained On3’s No. 1 running back since the rankings debuted for the 2025 class.

The Tigers closed out the month by adding Louisiana’s highest-ranked offensive lineman in Calvary Baptist 4-star Devin Harper, which began a run for LSU offensive line coach Brad Davis that saw the Tigers land commits from two more top targets who were both ranked as On3’s No. 1 interior offensive lineman at the time of their commitment.

In March, Mississippi’s Tyler Miller – On3’s No. 3 interior offensive lineman and a Top 50 prospect – popped for LSU. Then, Davis and the Tigers landed Arkansas 4-star Carius Curne, who heads into his senior season ranked by On3 as the No. 2 interior offensive lineman in the country and a Top 30 overall prospect. To this point, LSU’s four-man offensive line haul is among the best in college football.

LSU’s surge slowed for a stretch when the Tigers added just two commits between February and May. Still, the months of March and April each brought a key addition for the Tigers.

In March, LSU defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Blake Baker landed North Shore linebacker Charles Ross after becoming the first SEC program to extend the Houston native a verbal scholarship. Now, Ross is a Top 100 prospect on the On3 Industry Rankings.

In April, LSU running backs coach Frank Wilson locked in his 1-2 punch at running back with a commitment from Louisiana 4-star JT Lindsey, who is now ranked as the No. 12 running back in America – one spot ahead of Louisiana 4-star James Simon, a longtime LSU target who committed to Texas in late-May. As senior seasons begin, LSU has commitments from two of the Top 12 running backs in the country, and both are from the Bayou State.

A red-hot July for LSU football recruiting

By June, official visits began, and the Tigers – still holding one of the Top 3 recruiting classes in the country – were set to get hot on the recruiting trail, again.

Curne, On3’s No. 2 interior offensive lineman, got on board on June 20. 48 hours later, another Top 100 prospect committed to LSU when the Tigers landed Florida 4-star EDGE rusher Jesse Harrold.

Then came the current run in July, a stretch that has seen LSU add six commits from On300 prospects across a 16-day stretch between July 4th and July 20th.

On July 4th, Texas 4-star defensive tackle Zion Williams got the ball rolling by picking LSU over Texas and double-digit other offers. When the new On3 rankings debuted, Williams saw the biggest rise in the On300 when he moved from a 3-star to a 4-star and one of the newest Top 100 overall prospects.

On July 5, LSU landed another defensive tackle commit when 4-star Brandon Brown flipped his verbal pledge from Texas to the Tigers. In the span of 24 hours, the defensive tackle room went from no commits to adding a pair of 4-stars and On300 prospects.

And LSU wasn’t done for the day. 24 hours after reeling in a commitment from Williams, LSU landed another Top 100 prospect when Damien Shanklin picked the Tigers over Alabama and Ohio State. The addition gave first-year edge rushers coach Kevin Peoples commits from a pair of 4-star EDGE rushers who are ranked as Top 100 prospects in Harrold and Shanklin.

On June 13, LSU landed a commit from the highest-ranked safety in Louisiana when Destrehan 4-star Jhase Thomas got on board with the Tigers. Thomas earned an offer at LSU’s Elite Camp in June, and within a month’s time, the Bayou State native was on board with the Tigers.

The next announcement was one of the most anticipated as one of LSU’s top targets in the entire 2025 class, 5-star+ cornerback DJ Pickett, circled a decision date for July 17.

While buzz around Oregon and Miami grew loud, LSU buckled in and won the race for On3’s No. 1 cornerback prospect, giving defensive backs coach Corey Raymond a huge win on the recruiting trail during his first year back on staff.

Pickett joined Underwood and Berry as the third On3 Industry 5-star commitment in LSU’s 2025 class. On3’s national rankings have Underwood at No. 1, Pickett at No. 3 and Berry at No. 17.

LSU grabbed national headlines with Pickett’s commitment, and the Tigers stayed hot by landing another Top 50 prospect just days later.

On July 20, 4-star Derek Meadows picked LSU over Notre Dame – the presumed longtime leader – and others for the Top 50 prospect. Meadows is ranked as the No. 7 wide receiver in the country, and the additions of Pickett and Meadows put LSU firmly in the No. 3 spot of the On3 Industry Recruiting Rankings. The Tigers jumped Georgia and Oregon and inched closer to Alabama and Ohio State as the Top 5 teams continue to jockey for the No. 1 class in the rankings.

With Ohio State and Alabama sitting at 24 and 23 commits, respectively, LSU’s chances of adding to the current 18-man commit list, and jumping the Buckeyes and Tide, goes up as 2025 prospects gear up for senior seasons this fall.

LSU currently holds the On3 RPM lead for 4-star safety CJ Jimcoily, who is set to announce his college choice within the next month. The Tigers are also trending on the On3 RPM for prospects like Louisiana cornerback Aidan Anding and Georgia defensive tackle Walter Mathis, and LSU remains in play for uncommitted 5-star prospects like wide receivers Jaime Ffrench and Kaliq Lockett, as well as the Lone Star State’s Jonah Williams, who is ranked as the No. 1 safety in the country.

With less than six months until the Early Signing Period, and eight months until February’s Signing Day, LSU is firmly in position to push for the best recruiting class in college football.