re: Moscona just said LSU purged Evans & Bates

First off, this really doesn't pass the smell test: Even without digging into it, it seems absurd that we'd be dropping CBs from our class when we have an absolutely DESPERATE need for help at that position.


And it only gets more absurd when you dig in.


For one thing, believing this--that we dropped or pushed these guys out of the class--requires that you also believe that we saw them as the two worst CBs in our class. That's insane to me. Not only were they the two highest-rated CBs in the class, but the gap between them and our lowest-rated guys is HUGE. Even if you put relatively little stock in recruiting ratings/rankings, it's a pretty tough argument to say that two guys around #1000 overall (and ~80th at their position) are likely to combine for more college production/value than two guys around #100 overall (and top ~10 at their position). And even if you put ZERO stock in recruiting ratings/rankings, one of these guys flipped to UGA, who has by far the #1 class in the country and doesn't exactly have room for guys who they don't really believe in. So you'd essentially have to believe that UGA is WAY WAY WAY off in their evaluation of ondre evans. And beyond just UGA, Bates and Evans have overall offer lists that absolutely blow Wallace foster and bernard causey's offer lists out of the goddamn water.



And for another thing, it seems pretty unlikely that we're going to replace both of these losses. If you want to say that we pushed ondre evans out of the class to make room for bernard causey, then i guess there's not much I can tell you--I disagree with you, but if you think we liked causey better then I can't say i know for a fact that you're wrong--but with Bates, it doesn't seem like there's anyone right on the horizon as a replacement. If Bates actually got "purged" like Moscona claims, that means that he got purged for someone else--because there's no way we're booting an elite CB when we desperately need CB unless we have another CB ready to commit. But there's nobody available to fill that gap right now.



Finally: This is, at present, a relatively weak class by LSU standards. I'm not saying it's terrible, or even bad, but we could really stand to add more talent to it. So even if we DO have someone we think is better than Cai Bates ready to join the class... why would we push out one of the best guys in the class to let that other guy join? Why not push out one of the very many lesser guys, instead? I'd rather have more talent and a very slightly imbalanced depth chart than a perfectly balanced depth chart that's less talented overall. Wouldn't you?



Bottom line: this is really tough to believe on about a million different levels.