LSU Football: The program that could split up five-star DL duo

LSU football is hoping to land a pair of five-star defensive linemen.

LSU football has a lot of momentum on the recruiting trail right now.

After winning the national championship in January, the Tigers are the “it” program in college football.

But that doesn’t mean LSU can put it on cruise control. Being the “it” program is only half the battle. Recruiting, at its essence, is still all about building relationships.

Fortunately for the Tigers, there aren’t many coaches better at building relationships than Ed Orgeron.

And those relationships have LSU in the mix for a five-star defensive line duo that could wreak havoc in the SEC.

The elite duo LSU football needs to land

It’s no secret that five-star defensive end Korey Foreman, the nation’s No. 1 rated 2021 recruit (247Sports composite rankings) wants to play in college with five-star defensive tackle Maason Smith.

Foreman, who is from California, and Smith, a Louisiana native, have become close friends during the recruiting process. The two aren’t absolutely a package deal, but they’ve both made it clear they’d prefer to play with each other at the next level.

LSU is obviously the front-runner for Smith, while USC and Clemson appear to be out front for Foreman (he was previously committed to Clemson).

If the two are going to play together, though, it likely won’t be at Clemson.

“That’s something (playing together) I want to do and the only way it wouldn’t happen is if I go to Clemson again,” said Foreman to Rivals this week.

It sounds like Clemson isn’t an option for Smith. I’m not sure what the deal is there, though. Smith doesn’t have an offer from Clemson listed on his 247Sports recruiting profile. It’s hard to imagine that Clemson is passing on a five-star defensive tackle — especially when he’s connected to the top recruit in the nation. Perhaps Smith just isn’t interested in Clemson.

The battle for Foreman and Smith is going to get intense this fall. These two recruits could make a major impact on a program.

I like LSU’s chances as much as any program’s in this battle.