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LSU Football: Willie Allen commitment gives Tigers No. 1 class

By Patrick Schmidt

Oct 11, 2014; Gainesville, FL, USA; LSU Tigers helmet lays on the sidelines against the Florida Gators during the second half at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. LSU Tigers defeated the Florida Gators 30-27. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 11, 2014; Gainesville, FL, USA; LSU Tigers helmet lays on the sidelines against the Florida Gators during the second half at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. LSU Tigers defeated the Florida Gators 30-27. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
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The LSU football team received the verbal commitment from four-star offensive tackle to give Les Miles and the Tigers the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class.

Willie Allen (New Orleans, LA. John Curtis) committed to LSU on Thursday as the Under Armour All-American made the announcement that many saw coming.

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The 6-7.5, 300-pound offensive tackle is the nation’s No. 149 overall recruit, No. 15 offensive tackle and the No. 9 recruit in the state of Louisiana, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings. The commitment from Allen puts LSU back on top of the recruiting rankings for the 2016 class after yielding the top spot to the Ohio State Buckeyes earlier in the week.

Don’t expect the back-and-forth to stop with National Signing Day looming on Feb. 3 as both LSU and Ohio State will be jockeying until then for the honor of winning the recruiting championship.

Les Miles hopes Allen will help LSU win some SEC championships, however, and the massive offensive lineman could be able to do that. But I think he’ll be best served taking a redshirt year in his first year on campus so he can improve his body quickness and foot speed to better defend against fast edge players he’ll see throughout the SEC part of the schedule.

He has elite size for the position but his pass blocking needs to improve and it can with a redshirt year and additional development before he’s ready to compete for a starting spot on LSU’s offensive line.

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Allen has a lot to work with and a lot of positives to his game, but he’s not a finished product, nor are any high school offensive linemen, but this is a big get for Miles and LSU, two weeks shy of signing day.

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