During the 2025 recruiting cycle, LSU's road to National Signing Day can be described as anything but, smooth. The Tigers lost their 5-star quarterback commit Bryce Underwood, a 5-star cornerback commit Kade Phillips, and the Nation's top wide receiver Dakorien Moore.
The recruiting woes at Wide Receiver were more than just the decommits as LSU also lost Derek Meadows on National Signing Day. During the 2025 recruiting cycle, LSU was in contention for nearly every five-star wide receiver but, LSU was never able to get any on board. As LSU ended the recruiting cycle signing just two wide receivers both from Louisiana, Cortez Hankton was under the microscope.
Coming into the 2026 recruiting cycle, Cortez Hankton had a few things working in his favor. Three of his former wide receivers Malik Nabers, Brian Thomas Jr, and Ladd McConkey who he recruited to Georgia all had stellar Rookie seasons which helped his status among the best coaches. The State also had a trio of elite wide receivers which always helps LSU.
The Tigers got their first wide receiver on board during the Summer last year as In-State three star Jakai Anderson committed to LSU early. After putting up impressive numbers as a Junior and showing a ton of talent at showcase events, Jakai Anderson is now viewed as a Top-200 player in the class.
Then the State's most productive Wide Receiver Kenny Darby decommitted from Mississippi State reopening his recruitment. LSU and Cortez Hankton moved rather swiftly getting Darby on board and while he's a top 200 player in the class, his production and game film indicate he should be ranked much higher.
LSU then got quiet in terms of commitments but, LSU kept getting some of the Nation's top wide receivers to campus which set LSU up to explode but, everyone was waiting for the good news coming LSU's way.
This week was the explosion everyone was waiting for as it was an avalanche of good news for the LSU Football team on the recruiting trail at the wide receiver position. The week started with On3 predicting that LSU would land elite wide receiver Boobie Feaster coming off his visit to Baton Rouge. When the news dropped, if you told LSU fans that the Tigers were going to land two wide receivers this week, everyone would've assumed that Feaster would've committed.
LSU then got massive news following Five-Star Wide Receiver Tristen Keys' visit to LSU as the Nation's top ranked Wide Receiver committed to LSU. The commitment moved LSU from the Nation's third ranked recruiting class to first, a massive show of LSU's surge on the recruiting trail.
It seemed that everything was going LSU's way on the recruiting trail and this weekend the momentum only continued. On Saturday, Cortez Hankton landed the final piece of Louisiana's elite wide receiver trio as Destrehan's Jabari Mack committed to LSU. There was a ton of buzz around Texas and Texas A&M being threats to lure Mack out of state so getting him on board in LSU's class is great news.
After the 2025 recruiting cycle was rocky for Cortez Hankton, the way he's pivoted in the 2026 recruiting class is incredible. The Tigers have far and away the Nation's best receiver class and it may still be a work in progress as LSU has made massive headway with several other wide receivers.