LSU Football: Elite in-state recruit expected to stretch out recruitment

LSU football is hoping to land a commitment from 2021 four-star defensive end Saivion Jones.

LSU football, along with programs like Florida and Florida State, is strongly pursuing 2021 four-star defensive end Saivion Jones.

Jones, 6-foot-5/240 lbs from Saint James, LA (Saint James), is rated by 247Sports as the No. 9 player in the state of Louisiana and the No. 14 weak side defensive end in the nation.

The Louisiana native, who lives close to Baton Rouge, recently told Rivals that he hears often from Tigers head coach Ed Orgeron and wide receivers head coach Mickey Joseph.

Jones said earlier this year that LSU is recruiting him the hardest, which isn’t much of a surprise.

Coach O doesn’t often let elite players leave the state — especially defensive linemen (Orgeron’s specialty).

I would be extremely surprised if Jones didn’t end up at LSU. The only other program that I could see becoming a major factor for Jones is Baylor. And that’s just because former Tigers defensive coordinator Dave Aranda is the Bears’ current head coach. However, it’s unclear how aggressively Baylor is pursuing Jones (the Bears have offered him, though).

Jones, who is a three-sport athlete at Saint James (football, basketball and track), isn’t expected to make his decision until the last moment. The standout defensive end told Rivals this week that he plans to announce his decision on National Signing Day in February, which means LSU will have to keep a spot in their 2021 signing class open for Jones.

And that would probably be a wise idea.

Jones is described by Rivals midland region recruiting analyst Gabe Brooks as a player who “flashes impressive pursuit ability and closes fast on the ball”. Brooks also noted that Jones is “strong at the point of attack versus the run and as a bull rusher”.

LSU currently has five players committed to their 2021 recruiting class.