The 2017 recruiting class for the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns can easily be summed up in a few words: quality, not quality.
The amount of players coming into this class is low because of the sanctions due to the investigation back in 2015 by the NCAA. These restrictions actually may have helped out the Cajuns when it comes to getting better talent. The less spots you had on the roster means that there was much more time put into making sure each and every commit is going to be a great player in the 2017 season and beyond.
Star of the Class
This award has to go to one offensive player and one defensive player. The common connection is that both are from the state of Mississippi. Starting things off is Chase Rogers out of St. Stanislaus. Rogers was formerly a TE committed to the Tennessee Volunteers and after an official visit a few weeks ago, became a Ragin Cajun. The position of tight end has been ignored the last couple of seasons, but with new offensive coordinator Will Hall you can expect that to change if he has someone like that in his system.
When it comes to a defensive player that is the star of the 2017 class, it begins and ends with SchDarren Archie. The defensive back out of Brandon, Mississippi will have an immediate impact on this team. As mentioned in the past, the one aspect of their defense that needed to be fixed was the secondary. This, along with a few Acadiana players will make it even better in 2017.
Blue Chippers
This Cajuns team has a lot of returning starters, possibly the most in the Hudspeth era and that means that there’s a possibility some of these players won’t be on the field on opening day. However, these guys should not be overlooked because of how much potential they have.
When you look at Elijah Mitchell, he fits the mold of what Eli McGuire did while wearing the Vermillion and White. Based off of film, he seems to work best when running to the outside but has some meat to him at 215 pounds. Realistically, you could see him used in a similar role like McGuire was after Alonzo Harris graduated.
There’s a lot of talk about Levi Lewis and Kadon Harrrison. According to Mark Hudspeth, both of these players could be in contention for the starting job in 2017. While they were unable to get David Pindell out of Lackawanna Community College, the Cajuns still have a chance to get a grad transfer. If that doesn’t work out, the Cajuns will have to decide between four relatively inexperienced quarterbacks. I think Lewis and Harrison could be great QBs, but they need some time to develop into that. Honestly, the job is between Dion Ray and Jordan Davis right now and barring any of those grad transfers coming aboard it will remain that way.
Overall Thoughts
My overall thoughts on the 2017 recruiting class are that it was good, but missed out on some key positions. They missed out on the aforementioned Pindell and some linebackers. When it comes to the position of linebackers, they are losing three very good players in Trey Granier, Otha Peters, and Tremaine Lightfoot. They are replacing them with two guys in Karson Block and Julius Perkins. One might not be playing in 2017 so that’s a big mark against them going forward.
However, the overall class more than makes up for some of the shortcomings this team has. While they were towards the middle of the pack in recruiting according to 247Sports, it was largely because of the number of recruits. The crystal ball shows that there are six potential starters in 2017 and that could be huge.
Grade: B-
-Clint Domingue