A sleeping giant

COVINGTON, La. - When you go on the road to check out a number of top prospects, every once in a while a hidden gem will emerge. Such was the case Thursday morning when Rivals.com headed to Covington (La.) St. Paul.

St, Paul defensive end David Boyce was a mere blip on the radar screen, but after today expect to start hearing his name a lot. The 6-foot-7, 240-pound Boyce is a big time player with big time potential.

"I am a speed type guy," Boyce said. "I have great lateral movement and I keep contain well. There were times last year when I was able to run down plays from behind that I had no business running down. I am a real big film guy, I take home a copy of the team we're playing every week and study it."

Boyce attended camps at Southern Miss, Ole Miss and LSU this summer catching the eye of coaches with each camp he attended.

"I picked up an offer from Southern Miss over the summer," Boyce said. "I am getting stuff from Oklahoma, Memphis and pretty much all of the SEC schools. LSU and Ole Miss are really sending me a lot of stuff."

This could shape up to be an LSU-Ole Miss battle if both choose to offer and interestingly enough each school is recruiting him for a different position.

"LSU is recruiting me as a tight end," Boyce said. "They told me that they are really looking for some tight ends and that they liked lateral movement in a tight end and that's what I have. I am originally from Baton Rouge and I grew up going to Tiger games as a kid.

My brother Ben is a red-shirt junior at Ole Miss, he plays center. They have been showing me a lot of interest. They have a lot of nice new facilities up there and I get a chance to see what it would really be like to go to school up there because of my brother. We're real close and we talk about this stuff a lot."

As a junior Boyce collected 35 solo tackles, six tackles for loss and 11 sacks. Boyce played tight end sparingly in high school, but the idea of playing the position in college is intriguing.

"I am starting to play it some more this year," Boyce said. "I am beginning to learn the position better and find out more about it. LSU feels like I could really help them there because of my speed and athleticism and ability to change direction."

Boyce is a two time defending state champion wrestler and is ranked as the No. 34 player in Louisiana by Rivals.com. Be on the lookout for film on Boyce next week.