LSU Football: Grading the Tigers’ 2018 recruiting class

LSU Football locked in the nation’s No. 15 recruiting class on National Signing Day. How did the Tigers grade out on both sides of the ball?

LSU entered National Signing Day with plenty of opportunity and left empty-handed. The Tigers had their eyes on several marquee prospects and saw one after another choose other schools.

The most painful miss was Patrick Surtain Jr, a long time LSU lean, who picked rival Alabama on National Signing Day. Landing the nation’s No. 1 cornerback would have been a tremendous boon to the Tigers’ 2018 class. Instead he’s going to be playing against them for at least three seasons with the Tide. The Surtain miss leaves the Tigers with just one defensive back in the class and no corners.

The Tigers lost two battles to another SEC West foe – both tight end Glenn Beal and quarterback James Foster picked Texas A&M over the Bayou Bengals. LSU also lost wide receiver Mario Goodrich to Clemson. That’s a lot of high-profile whiffs.

Fortunately for coach Ed Orgeron, this class wasn’t built in a single day. The Tigers had nine early enrollees and several other commitments before National Signing Day even arrived. How does the entire class grade out?