As we draw closer to National Signing Day, there are some big gaps in the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns recruiting class for 2017. There are a lot of moving parts that need to be locked in before we get to February 1st. Here are some of the positions of need the Cajuns absolutely have to address on the recruiting trail.
Need #1: Quarterback
In a perfect world, the Cajuns would already have their quarterback in house. However, that isn’t the world we live in right now and they need to get one in house by June, there’s no need for all the mess that happened with Anthony Jennings coming in during fall camp and having to learn the playbook in about five weeks. With Levi Lewis of Scotlandville deciding to test the waters as an athlete, the amount of quarterbacks currently committed to the university dwindles down to one Kadon Harrison out of Port Arthur, Texas. Odds are he won’t start until 2018 at the earliest unless David Pindell of Lackawanna College signs on. However, you can’t bank on him as he recently received an offer from Temple so there needs to be some feelers put out to another Juco or grad transfer QB to come aboard.
Need #2: Secondary
Another aspect that the Cajuns need to put emphasis on is the secondary. The Cajuns defense improved after the early-season firing on Melvin Smith, but the worst part of their defense was the secondary. The good part is that there are several guys that are a hard commit like Acadiana High’s Bralen Trahan and Jeremiah West out of St. Aug. Trahan has shown a lot of ability, especially during the I-10 Bowl back in December and could be in consideration of starting in 2017. However, there is a need for the Cajuns to get a couple more to build some depth.
Need #3: Offensive Line
The Ragin Cajuns over the last couple of seasons have struggled finding a consistency offensively and a large chunk of that has to be because of the offensive line. It’s been hampered by injuries and generally mixing and matching players and seeing what sticks. That’s not how good O-Lines are developed. It’d be great to have a player that can be a five-tool lineman, but if they’re spending so much time adjusting to different positions how can you find what works best for certain players? It’s all about consistency and developing players that specialize in certain positions. Look at the Saints and the progress of Andrus Peat early on in his professional career. He has the ability to be a good offensive lineman, but he’s being stretched around to a couple of different positions and has hindered his progress. The need for the Cajuns to make strides offensively relies largely on the offensive line being able to find some consistency and depth.
-Clint Domingue