Where will LSU's recruiting class finish?

The LSU football staff made a huge splash on the recruiting trail this past week, which surged the Tigers back into the Top 10 of the On3 Industry Rankings for the 2024 class.

On October 26, Beaumont (Texas) United five-star offensive tackle Weston Davis flipped his commitment from Texas A&M to the Tigers.

“I see that LSU has the best offensive line in the SEC right now,” Davis told On3’s Hayes Fawcett. “Coach (Brad) Davis is a good coach and he developed the players that he has now.”

Davis is the No. 92 overall prospect and No. 6 offensive tackle in the 2024 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. On3 ranks Davis significantly higher than other recruiting services, as he checks in the latest On300 as a five-star and the No. 18 recruit.

With the elite tackle now in the fold, the Tigers jumped up five spots in the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Ranking to No. 7. With Oregon’s commitment from Elijah Rushing on Monday, the Tigers are now ranked No. 8. Only Georgia, Ohio State, Florida, Florida State, Alabama, Oregon and Texas A&M remain ahead of LSU.

The commitment from Davis came across a five-day stretch that led to a trio of additions to the 2024 class. LSU also landed two cornerbacks, first reeling in Mississippi’s PJ Woodland on October 22 before landing Louisiana’s Bernard Causey on October 24.

With 26 commitments on board, how high could the Tigers finish in the recruiting rankings?

LSU among Top 3 in 4-star commitments

While Weston Davis is ranked as a five-star by On3, he’s a four-star prospect on the On3 Industry Rankings as the third highest-ranked Tigers pledge, checking in behind Zachary four-star tight end Trey’Dez Green and Denham Springs four-star safety Dashawn McBryde.

Green is the nation’s No. 41 overall prospect and No. 1 tight end. He has been committed to LSU since April 26 and was one of the biggest risers in the latest edition of the On300 Ranking. McBryde is the No. 74 overall prospect and a Top 5 safety nationally.

Five additional Top 200 recruits are committed to Kelly and LSU: Orlando Edgewater four-star cornerback Cai Bates, Duncanville (Texas) four-star running back Caden Durham, Many (La.) four-star linebacker Tylen Singleton, Houston Atascocita four-star wide receiver Jelani Watkins and Tucker (Ga.) four-star EDGE CJ Jackson.

Four-star and five-star prospects are rated as ‘blue-chip’ prospects — LSU’s class sits at No. 7 nationally in blue-chip percentage at 65.38%. There’s also been a heavy focus on the Bayou State, and the average distance of an LSU recruit’s hometown to Baton Rouge is 211 miles as 62% of the class hails from Louisiana.

LSU has the third-most four-star commitments with 17. Georgia, the No. 1 team in the rankings, leads the way with 19 four-star commitments, followed by Oregon with 18 following Monday’s addition of Rushing.

Davis is the fifth – and highest-ranked – offensive line commitment for the Tigers. He joins Mooresville (N.C.) Lake Norman four-star OT Ethan Calloway, Buda (Texas) San Marcos three-star OT Ory Williams, Marrero (La.) John Ehret three-star IOL Khayree Lee and Leesville (La.) Natchitoches Central three-star IOL Joseph Cryer in the trenches.

How high could the Tigers climb in the rankings?

There’s been an ongoing debate among LSU fans that has centered around one topic.

Will LSU finish with a Top 10 recruiting class this cycle? Brian Kelly and Co. finished with the No. 5 class in 2023, which was the staff’s first full cycle on the recruiting trail.

With a current No. 8 ranking, LSU carries a 91.742 average score. Texas A&M, the No. 7 team in the rankings, has an average recruit score of 91.811. The Tigers and Aggies have been doing battle on the recruiting trail all cycle, and the recent flip of five-star offensive tackle Weston Davis and decommitment from one-time Aggies commitment Dre’lon Miller has dominated headlines across the past week.

When debating where the Tigers will finish in the rankings, three things are important to remember:

One: The On3 Industry Recruiting Rankings work on a sliding scale of average number of commits used in the rankings score. The number is currently set at 17, meaning while LSU has 26 commitments, the 17 highest-ranked commitments are used to compare the Tigers to the rest of the college football’s commitment lists. This gives fans a glimpse for what the strength of a class looks like whether a program takes 30-plus commitments or fewer than 20. The On3 Industry Rankings has settled in on final numbers of 19, 17 and 17 across the past three recruiting cycles.

Two: Rankings adjustments across the industry are as important as new commitments. LSU has already seen a number of commitments land bumps in the mid-season On3 rankings updates, and as the other three recruiting services update the rankings on seniors, it will shuffle up the On3 Industry Rankings. So, keep an eye on how LSU’s recruits are viewed across the board. With more rankings updates to come, LSU’s class could rise or fall based off who is already in the boat.

Three: New commitments. With the current On3 Industry Rankings working off an average of 17 commitments, the Tigers lowest-ranked commit who currently counts towards the rankings is Texas three-star linebacker Davhon Keys, who is turning in a strong senior year at Aledo. He currently carries an 89.46 rating on the On3 Industry Rankings. If the Tigers land prospects rated higher than Keys – who is knocking on the door of becoming a four-star prospect – the class ranking will rise. Sources tell The Bengal Tiger staff the final range the LSU staff is eyeing sits around 30 high school signees. If LSU holds on to all the current commits, that would mean around four more additions. With the Tigers in the mix for prospects like five-star Terry Bussey, four-star Dre’lon Miller, four-star Gabriel Reliford and more, there’s a number of opportunities for the staff to add commitments who could help LSU rise even further in the rankings. I’ve maintained LSU finishes with a Top 10 recruiting class this cycle, and I’m sticking with the prediction. If the Tigers go on another run of big additions, and the final rankings adjustments trend some Tigers up the Top 300, LSU could be knocking on the door for a second Top 5 finish in back-to-back cycles.