The Rant's "Chicken Littleitis" has bled onto here so thoroughly...

I would like to make a couple of points.

1. The sky is not falling.

2. A couple of years ago we needed running backs, so we got a bunch of running backs.

3. Last year, we needed QBs so we got a bunch of quarterbacks.

4. This year, we need LBers in the worst possible way, so we're getting a bunch of LBers.

This class is fundamentally sound, in many ways, and will have some All American and All-SEC players come out of it, and yes, a handful who will play on Sundays - just like most LSU classes over the past 15 years.

LBers do not wow the recruiting services nearly as much as offensive skill position players or elite DBs and DEs.

We're getting arguably the nation's best long snapper, and he's the lowest rated player in the class, as well as one of the very best TE prospects. These things do not normally boost the recruiting rankings as much as landing an elite QB, RB, WR, CB, S or DE.

This kind of class, which is solid, if not spectacular, in its own right, is not a "problem" as long as it is sandwiched between elite classes.

I'm not trying to be a sunshine pumper - we lost two elite, in-state prospects to the angry little man from WV. We lost the big game and everyone wants to hang some higher significance on it. The Kiel debacle was certainly not our best hour. We have not, as yet, closed the deal on an elite player for 2012 (and we may not - so what?) to make us feel better about that.

However, we have a class that is roughly 1/3 LBers and we still rank fairly well, though not quite as well as the past half-dozen classes. We have about 8 to 10 guys in this class who are going to surprise many of the Chicken Littles.