At the start of the year, LSU got a bit of a surprise when edge rusher JaReylan McCoy committed to the Tigers during the Under Armour All American Game. The commitment was massive as LSU nabbed an elite defensive lineman giving the Tigers its first Out of State commit and a massive piece to the recruiting class. Given how early McCoy committed it was always going to be hard to keep him on board especially given there are two SEC schools in his backyard.
A month later, McCoy skipped out on LSU's Junior Day event opting to attend Ole Miss' event and the writing was on the wall. The next day McCoy decommitted from LSU re opening his recruitment with all signs pointing toward Ole Miss but, McCoy hasn't committed yet. Last week, LSU hosted McCoy giving the Tigers some momentum again.
On Thursday, McCoy cut his list of schools in consideration down to five schools keeping LSU in the race.
NEWS: Elite 2026 DL JaReylan McCoy is down to 5️⃣ Schools, he tells me for @on3recruits
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) March 14, 2025
The 6’7 245 DL from Tupelo, MS is ranked as the No. 2 DL in Mississippi (per On3)
Where Should He Go?👇🏽https://t.co/SJoZAWQnn5 pic.twitter.com/dEoCpVJxBy
It'll be a tough recruitment to win out in as was always the thought as In-State Ole Miss is a finalist along with programs that recruit well in Auburn, Florida, and Texas A&M. Based on McCoy ending the Winter with a visit to Ole Miss it'll be tough to win out over the In-State school.
According to On3's Industry Recruiting Rankings, McCoy is the 146th ranked player in the class, the 13th ranked defensive lineman, and the 7th ranked player out of Mississippi. Where McCoy is the most impressive is as an edge rusher with incredible arm length and solid film at the position.
If LSU were to land McCoy, it'll be because the Tigers want him to play edge rusher rather than defensive tackle. Louisiana has a loaded class on the interior defensive line but, edge rusher is much tougher to come by. If LSU can plug McCoy in on the outside while hopefully signing Richard Anderson and Lamar Brown it would make for a great defensive line class.